Bickering in Indian hockey behind Jr team’s tour cancellation?

By ANISUDDIN KHAN submitted 1 day 17 hours ago

KARACHI – The Pakistan Hockey Federation PHF should partially share the blame for the cancellation of Indian junior hockey team’s visit to Pakistan early this month but reports reaching here from across the border give the hint that power tussle between Indian ad hoc body which replaced an elected Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) led by KPS Gill could have also contributed in the fiasco.

The PHF, which hastily announced the details of the tour without waiting for confirmation of no objection from Indian foreign office for the tour, may have been a reason for the cancellation of the tour hours before the Indian juniors were to cross over into Pakistan on November 10.

However, new information coming out from India hint that power struggle between ad hoc hockey body headed by Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi and elected president of the IHF, KPS Gill may have also influenced Indian foreign office decision to call off the tour.

The calling off of the visit caused a minimum loss of Rs. eight million to the PHF which was already in advance stage of organising the five-match series when the cancellation came as bolt from the blue.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) dissolved the elected IHF after India failed to qualify for Beijing Olympics after a poor performance at the Olympic qualifying round in Santiago, Chile and appointed an ad hoc body to run the game which has given eight gold medals to once formidable India in Olympics. India won its last Olympic gold at 1980 boycotted Moscow Olympics. Pakistan stayed away from Moscow for political reasons as a protest against invasion of Afghanistan by then Soviet Union. Since then Indian hockey was on constant decline.