NEW DELHI: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Saturday made it clear that no further extension would be granted to the Indian establishment to sort out its disputes and complete the election process.
Reiterating the world body’s stand that they do not have any back up venue for the mega-event, FIH Vice President Antonio von Ondarza, said the extension till February first week was granted to HI keeping in mind the enormous paper work involved in the affiliation process of the state units.
“I came here to talk to HI, IOA and the government. It was a routine visit but it has been a fruitful visit as far as FIH was concerned,” Ondarza, who is the FIH-appointed observer for the elections, told reporters.
“There is an ongoing process involved in the official merger of men’s and women’s federations in the state level. Earlier, we decided to hold elections in November but the FIH received some communication from stakeholders that they were not ready for the elections as it involves a lot of paper work. So I came here to discuss the possibility of postponing the elections so that everybody can have a say in the democratic process.
“After meeting all parties we have come to a conclusion to postpone the elections till the end of January but not later because the new body has to be in place before the World Cup,” he said.
“But let me tell you we don’t have a plan B. I have gone through the paper works and most of them have been done. We don’t need a plan B because I am confident that everything will be done in time,” Ondarza said.
The FIH Vice President made it clear that the world body was providing every possible support to the interim HI officials and now its high time for them to act in a responsible manner.
“The objective was to give more time and it has been given. But now HI will have to ensure that the process of elections are clear, transparent, democratic and constitutionally correct,” he said.
“But we are in complete harmony and there is no turmoil in hockey at all. The targets are set and we should have a successful World Cup,” he said.
He also said that during his visit he met Sports Minister M S Gill and discussed with him about the election process of HI.
“I had the opportunity to talk to the Sports Minister, who completely shares our view,” Ondarza said.
HI President A K Mattoo, meanwhile, said the elections were postponed on the direction of the FIH even though they were ready to conduct the polls.
“It was postponed after due deliberation with the FIH. We are still ready to hold the elections on November 18 although some federations are yet to get affiliation. But I can assure you that we will now have a fresh look at the affiliations issues,” he said.
The HI elections scheduled for November 18 in Srinagar ran into rough weather after Sports Ministry and the FIH asked the national body to first settle the affiliation problems raised by some state associations before going for the polls.
Some major hockey playing states like Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Bengal and Jharkhand raised objections to November 18 elections after HI did not grant them recognition.
But Mattoo said the crisis arose as those states did not apply for affiliation on time.
“If a state doesn’t apply what do we do? If they don’t send their application on time what do we do? But now nobody will be left out,” he said.