After Delhi is announced as host of U-18 hockey Asia Cup, authorities profess ignorance of allotment

THE Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) held their council meeting during the recent junior Asia Cup in Hyderabad and decided on the major continental tournaments to be held in 2008 and 2009, and one of the decisions taken was to hold the 2nd under-18 boys Asia Cup in New Delhi.

However, the authorities concerned – the IOA ad-hoc committee and the selection committee – are completely unaware of the decision. “We have no idea about any such tournament to be held in the Capital. There is no communication about it,” said Moham mad Aslam Khan, convenor of the IOA ad-hoc committee, responsible for the administration of the game in the country.

When told that this was, in fact, announced during the press conference, he reiterated that there was no such information available with them. Interestingly, the AHF meeting was attended by former IHF president KPS Gill, IWHF president Vidya Stokes and IWHF secretary Amrit Bose, in their capacity as council members, while IOA president Suresh Kalmadi and Aslam Khan were present only as special invitees for a short while on the opening day of the meeting.

When contacted, Amrit Bose said she had no such informa tion. “We will be hosting the under-18 girls’ Asia Cup, but that will be only after September, in Gwalior, and only if we get atl east six entries. There is no infrastructure for hockey in the city right now, how can a tournament be held here,” she said.

Selection committee chairman and Olympian Aslam Sher Khan also professed ignorance about any such plan. “We have been given no such information,” he said. However, he did add that in case such a tournament was scheduled to be held in India, there was no dearth of venues. “But we need to be told about it first,” he said.

Delhi has no venues to host a major – or even a minor hockey tournament. The two hockey stadiums in the city the National Stadium and the Shivaji Stadium – are both undergoing renovation and re-laying of turfs to be ready in time for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

And the authorities are aware of this. “When there is no turf in the city, how can a tournament be held here,” said Aslam Khan. “Both stadiums are undergoing renovation. We are well aware of this, so how such an event be planned here?” asked Aslam Sher Khan.

But the question remains that if the IOA, India’s representative in the AHF, and the selection committee are unaware of the schedule of the tournament itself, how did the AHF announce it?