All set for the numbers game to begin

S. Thyagarajan

Chennai: Amidst unpleasant rhetoric, the numbers game is all set to begin for the trial of strength within the hockey community. With the joint front under J.B. Roy and K.P.S. Gill falling apart due to differences, two separate group sessions appear inevitable.

What the emerging picture is likely to be remains in the realm of a guess. Independent assessment confirms the majority of the constituent men and women units will side with Mr. Roy. Supporters of Mr. Roy are positive of an attendance of over 50 from men and women associations at the Amby Valley conclave.

Quite predictably, Mr. Gill disputes this claim and expects a full turnout for the meeting in Delhi. On Thursday, he asserted that not once during his meetings with Mr. Roy was the subject of keeping Jothikumaran away from the meeting crop up. He justified the invitation to Tamil Nadu and suggested the State could depute anyone. It was wrong to say he insisted on inviting Jothikumaran.
Gill’s take

Also, Mr. Gill wondered how Ms. Amrit Bose of the IWHA could suggest this when he had neither met nor spoken to her on any of the issues.

Mr. Gill clarified that his failure to issue a joint statement with Mr. Roy was being made out as a sign of discord. He said it would not have made any sense since everything about it had already been leaked to the media. All he wanted to was to address the media jointly after the meeting, highlighting the importance of a democratically organised election for a unified hockey body.
Joint representation

While agreeing that IOA’s approach to creating Hockey India under pressure from FIH was flawed in more ways than one, Mr. Gill explained a joint representative meeting of the hockey fraternity in Delhi could put more pressure on IOA to rethink on the process to set everything in order.

Mr. Gill probably toyed with the idea of evolving a consensus for nominating a study group to debate the issues and the implications involved and then make a stand.

But such a line of thinking is unacceptable to Mr. Roy’s supporters, who feel that already too much time had been frittered away without challenging the authoritarian means used by the ad hoc committee to constitute Hockey India and unilaterally rendering the existing State associations insignificant and redundant.
Strong mechanism

A strong mechanism representing the States governing the sport in their respective domain is essential to keep in check Hockey India from persuading and pressurising the units to fall in line.

And this is precisely what the meeting under Mr. Roy is striving to accomplish. Interestingly, a similar meeting was held months ago projecting a majority support for Mr. Roy, underlining the importance of giving back the powers to Indian Hockey Federation.

The IOA chief, Mr. Suresh Kalmadi, had addressed the gathering and assured that everything would be done in that direction.

Exasperating times are ahead. The FIH is not amused with the emerging contours.

And so is the Continental Federation, which feels, perhaps rightly so, that it had remained a passive and unwanted spectator for too long in the FIH scheme of things related to India.

The Hindu