HI hopes to get approval for Oly qualifiers

B. Shrikant, Hindustan Times

Amidst threats from the international hockey federation (FIH) to strip India of the right to host the Olympic Qualifiers because of a dispute over governance of the sport in the country, Hockey India (HI) on Tuesday submitted to the FIH the host-city contract, fulfilling the obligation from its side.

It now has to satisfy the FIH regarding governance issues at the meeting of its executive board at Lausanne, Switzerland, on Saturday to seal the deal. If it is confirmed, HI will host the tournament at the National Stadium in New Delhi from February 18-26, 2012.

“We have completed all formalities from our side well in time and now hope to convince FIH’s executive board,” said HI secretary-general Narinder Batra, who will attend the FIH meeting at Lausanne.

The FIH will confirm the hosts and groupings for the three qualifying tournaments that it had earlier awarded to India, Belgium and Japan. The FIH had, while moving the Champions Trophy out of New Delhi to Auckland a couple of months back, also threatened to take away the Olympic Qualifiers because of the dispute between two national federations.