Hockey India to select team

New Delhi, Oct. 22: The Supreme Court permitted Hockey India to select and send both men and women teams to Asian Games in the same manner as the body did for the Commonwealth Games after court’s clearance.

This came as another shot in arm to the HI, which is locked in a legal battle with Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) on the issue of controlling the game in the country.
In an interim order, a bench of Justices R.V. Raveendran and H.L. Gokhale made their August 27 direction applicable for selection and sponsoring of hockey teams to Asiad to he held in China next month.

“The arrangement made in the August 27 order shall also apply in regard to selection and participation in Asian Games to he held in China,” the bench said.

In a bid to get the matter resolved mutually rather than agitating it in the court, the bench suggested that HI, IHF and Indian Olympic Association (IOA), meanwhile, should
sit together with the Ministry of Sports to resolve the dispute.

In the August 27 order, the apex court had directed that the teams would be selected and sponsored the HI with the assistance of IOA for the Commonwealth Games while the IHF was kept out of the process.

As the same direction was extended for Asian Games, the IHF would have no role to play this time too. The IHF has challenged the constitution of HI for controlling the game in the country as it claimed to be the real body to regulate hockey in the country as it had been in existence since 1925.

Though IHF had conceded the ground for HI temporarily for selection and sponsoring the teams for the CWG and Asiad, it was not ready to yield and wanted it to be decided by the apex court finally.