FIH decision vindicates IOA stand

The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) today described as correct the decision taken by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to hold the Olympic hockey qualifier tournament in Delhi as per schedule. “The FIH decision vindicates the IOA stand that the event should not be moved out,” IOA acting president Vijay Kumar Malhotra said.

The FIH Executive Board had unanimously decided yesterday to conduct the qualifiers and other major hockey tournaments allotted in India in the country itself, instead of pulling them out, as it had done in the case of the Champions Trophy. It had also decided to recognise Hockey India (HI) as the National federation of the sport. A decision to this effect was conveyed to Sports Minister Ajay Maken by FIH President Leandro Negre over phone from Lausanne, Switzerland.

The FIH after shifting the Champions Trophy from Delhi to Auckland had also threatened India with severe consequences, including debarring participation in the Olympics, if the Sports Ministry continued its existing arrangement of recognising a unified ad-hoc committee to run the game here.

“The IOA had told FIH president Leandro Negre during his visit to Delhi in early October that despite the fall in ranking, India remains the nerve centre of world hockey and had urged him not to shift the Champions Trophy,” Malhotra stated today.

He said he had also informed Negre that the IOA too did not accept two federations for one game and recognised only HI’s right to conduct the game. “I am happy that the FIH has now come out with a correct decision recognizing India as a hockey hub and accepted the IOA stand,” Malhotra added and said shifting out the Champions Trophy had affected the national team’s preparations for the London Olympics but “it also did not do any good to the game per se”.

“IOA is fully committed to the Olympic Charter, we will never accept two federations for any sport, that is our unequivocal stand, which the FIH has also accepted,” he said. Malhotra also cautioned the FIH that in case of any dispute, it should deal with the NOCs and in India’s case, it was the IOA and no other authority. “Otherwise, it would be a violation of the Olympic charter,” he noted.

Maken had also expressed satisfaction at the FIH decision and termed it as a “suitable and logical conclusion” to the efforts made by the ministry and Hockey India as indeed the FIH. The presence of HI secretary-general Narinder Batra and vice-president Rajeev Mehta for the FIH Executive Board meeting helped tilt the FIH decision in India’s favour.