Clarify stand on hockey teams by Friday: SC

R Sedhuraman

Legal Correspondent

The Supreme Court today set a deadline for the Centre directing it to clarify by Friday whether the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) would be in a position to field the Indian hockey team at the Commonwealth Games with the approval of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Rejecting the Centre’s plea for allowing time till August 30, a Bench comprising Justice RV Raveendran and HL Gokhale pointed out that despite the fact that the Games were being held in Delhi, the Indian hockey team would not be able to play as a “cohesive unit” unless the team selection was done on August 28 as scheduled.

The Bench also agreed that there was a possibility of India being unable to take part in the hockey event unless the issue of who should field the team – IHF headed by KPS Gill or Hockey India (HI) – was resolved in time. The Centre has derecognised the HI and wants the IHF to sponsor the team at the CWG, but the FIH under whose aegis the hockey event will be held has given affiliation only to the HI.

Appearing for the Centre, Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium said the government would not allow the game to suffer due to the litigation. “If the world body does not recognises IHF, India should not be in a default position,” he said.

Subramanium said the government was hopeful that the FIH would recognise the IHF. This was, however, countered by senior counsel Ashok Desai, who appeared for the HI. The government had acknowledged that the legal process for completing the merger of the IHF and IWHF (women’s), announced on August 6, would take eight to 12 weeks. Only after this the government could approach the FIH seeking affiliation for the IHF, Desai argued.