Hockey India, FIH differ on lifting media ban

New Delhi, Feb. 23: The flip-flop over lifting the media ban ahead of the 12th Hockey World Cup continued here on the day with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Hockey India officials adopting different stance on the matter.

The day began with the FIH issuing a statement saying that journalists would be restricted from covering team practice sessions till the accreditation process was complete.

“The teams have started to arrive in Delhi for the Hero Honda FIH World Cup. Training has commenced at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. The FIH tournament director, Ken Read has determined that media access to training will not be possible until accreditations are active, which is expected to be on February 27th,” an FIH release said.

It had all started with the the sports ministry keeping the media away from Indian team’s practice sessions, citing security reasons, after the camp was shifted from Pune to New Delhi on February 3. The agitated media took it up with Hockey India which promised to address the issue.

Interestingly, Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra later said that the matter had been resolved after a meeting with the co-ordination commission — that includes Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi besides tournament director Read — and the media would be allowed to cover practice from Thursday.

“It (the co-ordination commission) discussed issues relating to media access to the National Stadium and decided that media accreditation would be completed by February 24 so that the accredited media could attend an interaction with the teams during practice at the

National Stadium on February 25,” Hockey India said in a statement, a move which was immediately shot down by the world body.

FIH events manager Tina Brullo had this to say.

“We stick to the decision taken earlier in the day. We don’t recognise Hockey India and they don’t have the right to decide anything,” Brullo told this newspaper.

The ban on media coverage has seriously impacted promotion of the tournament.

Former internationals have also complained about the lack of information on the teams participating and were critical of the FIH and HI for handling such a mega event in such a unprofessional fashion.

AGE CORRESPONDENT