Private body, not HI or IOA, hosted World Cup: KPS Gill

Kabir Mandrekar

Levelling fresh charges against Hockey India, former Indian Hockey Federation chief KPS Gill claimed on Wednesday that the World Cup 2010 held in Delhi was hosted by a private society ‘Organising Committee Hero Honda FIH World Cup Society’, and not by HI or by the Indian Olympic Association. He also alleged that the body paid the international federation more amount for the hosting rights than what was initially agreed upon.

“The World Cup was hosted by a different body altogether, formed just before the start of the tournament. No one knows what has happened to that body now. It was a private body and was not under the purview of the Right to Information. How can a private body run the World Cup?” Gill asked.

Gill also said that the organising committee went on to spend Rs 5 crore more than the original budget that was planned for the World Cup.

“The IHF had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the FIH that the title sponsorship would be Rs 2.5 crore. The other expenses would come up to Rs 2 crore thus making the total budget Rs 4.5 crore. The society, however, had spent a total of Rs 7.5 crore for the competition. There is no account of where the money went,” he said.

This information, according to Gill, was disclosed by HI secretary general Narendra Batra in a meeting that took place in Delhi on March 1. The meeting was held by the Sports Ministry as a reconciliation attempt between Hockey India and the IHF. “Narendra Batra made the announcement that the society had spent 7.5 crore for the competition. I will be filing an FIR soon to find out by which route Rs 7.5 crore went out of the country. I do not know whether it was through the RBI route or the hawala route,” said Gill.