National hockey championship turns into show of strength

While the men’s national hockey championships is on here under the aegis of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), the battle of words between the IHF and Hockey India (HI) has got shriller. HI has threatened players, officials and umpires with dire consequences for taking part in the current event while K P S Gill-led IHF says the warning is meaningless because only his body has the official mandate.

HI has already issued warning to players and teams participating in the competition, organised by the Madhya Pradesh Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports, but IHF president KPS Gill has termed them meaningless. Calling IOA president Suresh Kalmadi the most corrupt man in the country, Gill said, “he finished athletics and is now wants to do the same to hockey,’’ during the tournament’s inauguration. he added that Commonwealth Games were only entertainment and the federation was aiming the Asiad instead.

An IHF official countered, saying Gill would “finish hockey the same way he finished terrorism in Punjab.’’ IHF insists 32 state and institutional teams have confirmed their participation, but HI is sceptical about the number. It has also threatened to ban Madhya Pradesh from any event for the next two years as penalty for hosting the latest tournament despite warnings. “The state did good things to hockey but it’s doing exactly the opposite now,’’ HI’s secretary general Narinder Batra said.

But state’s director (sports) Sanjay Chaudhary said the criticism was unwarranted because the state had been allotted the tournament by a body with a legal mandate.