Hockey India on Saturday made public the letter of recognition from FIH, which officially makes the body as the sole representative of the game in the country.
However, the recognition comes with a warning that Hockey India would not only form single state units but that all the state units will also have to be affiliated to the parent body within six months. “With the new set up now in place we are sure that the earlier problems faced by hockey in India will be a closed chapter and you will conduct the elections in the next six months,” the FIH letter says.

Hockey India also released the constitution of the newly-formed Hockey India. The main points of the constitution are:

Voting

The state/union territory duly affiliated as a member shall have two votes in the General Council (of Hockey India) being represented by one male and one female member from that unit.
Any affiliated unit of the society which fails to conduct its election will not be eligible to vote. Authorised members of that unit can attend the meeting but without the right to vote.
Temporary members, boards and institutions admitted as members of the society shall not have voting rights.

Source of income

The fund of the society shall consist of:

Affiliation fee

Donations
Aid/Grants from government, semi-government, national and international institutions and associations

Sponsorship fee

Prize money
Interest from banks

The Executive Board of Hockey India shall consist of 12 office bearers and 5 executive members elected by the general council.

It shall be mandatory that out of total 17 members of the Executive Board, at least 40% of the members shall be of either gender.

AK Mattoo, the newly nominated president of Hockey India, reiterated that elections Hockey India will be held as declared — within six months, that is, by December 2009. “We will not want to continue a day beyond the said period—we may even hold elections before the six-month period,” he said at a press conference here.

Secretary general of Hockey India Mohd Aslam Khan said they only wanted to provide a proper infrastructure to the game in the country and anyone who comes to power after the elections will be in charge of all administration.

“All are welcome on board and elect new the office-bearers to Hockey India,” he said. “We want transparency in all aspects of the game—selection of teams, coaches, training and the functioning of the body,” he added.

Aslam also said that the formation of Hockey India was necessitated by FIH’s insistence, without which no Indian team could have participated in any international tournament, nor can India host any international tournament, including the Commonwealth Games in 2010, etc. This would have made India ineligible for the Champions Challenge in December this year.
“IOA had directed State Olympic Associations to bright about the merger of men and women hockey and they are already on the job,” he said.

He also revealed Hockey India’s plans for the future, which includes having a proper data bank for everything—players (from junior level) and coaches, revival of a professional league in the country, stress on junior tournaments (HI could host the nationals in September) and having 11-a-side and six-a-side tournaments.