April-May 2009 was a crucial, deciding phase in the ongoing Hockey India mess.

Newly elected FIH President Leondro Negi visited India in the first week of April. The adhoc committee was initially thinking of hosting his press conference in its Olympic Bhawan, but in a quick re-think organized it in one of the best luxury hotels in India. This meet was a grand success, huge media presence, big television focus, wonderful dream first Press Conference for the new FIH president, one can say. He spoke warmth, endeared the assembled ones with measured but frank briefing.

Leondro Negre dwelt primarily on four issues, all concerning the World Cup in 2010 in one way or other – infrastructure, security, IHF Election, Hockey India in that order. He set six months time frame for the last two.

He notched all doubts on infrastructure and security issues, he almost relegated them to the level of non-issues. He spoke a lot on IHF Election and merger, giving an impression that the elected body is a must and the merger is desirable. It was a tough talk on democratic election which almost put JB Roy faction in sense of success mood.

Since this visit and his next visit in the first week of May much water has flowed down. Negre’s long time friend Jose Brasa has been taken in as Chief Coach, till then he was in charge of sporting complex in Madrid, even believed to have applied for assignment in Uzbekistan hockey.

Brasa was the luckiest of the lot!

The clout of Suresh Kalmadi, the Indian Olympic Association, also came into the limelight in that spell. The FIH president flew to Pune to meet him as the IOA president was busy in election! (later he won the Pune parliamentary election for a record fourth time and his political outfit returned to power, which meant many things for Kalmadi and his interests).

Not to be forgotten here is shortly or later a situation might come where National Olympic Federation chiefs will have to cast their votes for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) member election whose scope arises after the incumbent Breda Els van Vriesman lost the FIH election, thereby forfeiting IOC membership as well.

During his first visit, Negre met JB Roy – brother of a leading Indian business house, sahara — who pressed for IHF election. On that occasion, a presentation was also made to Roy on the World Cup sponsorship.

JB Roy missed a golden opportunity to lap it up. While his business house which spends a whopping 400 crore to sponsor cricket team, was not emphatic on such a event as the World Cup sponsorship, which would have come for a for a pittance of, say less than Rs. 10 crore.

Bad luck continued for JB Roy. Now, we are certainly not taking about Kolkata High Court judgment which ordered Sahara to pay a hefty sum to KPS Gill’s pseudo IHF. We are certainly talking about something else. The company that the FIH commissioned for getting the World Cup marketing started sending positive signals of success.

Perhaps Roy lost his last bargaining chip.

(Note: The World Cup would have taken place without sponsorship because of the huge Commonwealth Games funds and government of India’s commitment to hockey. But the sponsorship is a bonus for the FIH which conceived a new revenue mode for the 2010 World Cup)

Therefore had Roy accepted the sponsorship, perhaps things would not have gone so bad as it is now, and so fast that he could not cope up with.

Even since it unilaterally allotted World Cup to Delhi three years ago — during the Monchengladbach World Cup – the FIH has been in a piquant situation of having to again and again negotiating and renegotiating with different set of Indian people to avoid a situation where by venue is not changed. A late venue change would have certainly cut the image of FIH which already was let down by KPS Gill’s adamant and often changing attitude. Never in the history of world cup, the venue was so uncertain so close to actual dates as it was now, even considering the 1971 imbroglio.

So it is quicker all issues of governing the World Cup is settled, better for the FIH to heave a sigh of relief.

So it happened.

Otherwise no solid ground exists why the FIH started series of moves that directly helped the IOA getting total freehand to do whatever they want. FIH President in his first press conference did not show this much urgency, as we feel now.

The 15-day ultimatum given to the IOA by the FIH to formalize the Hockey India which helped the IOA to stage-manage a constitutional coup – registering Hockey India without taking legal stakes holders in to confidence — is an uncharacteristic and unbecoming of the FIH which is traditionally a great guardian of procedures and processes.

Continues….