Hockey India’s roller-coaster ride

Hockey India’s birth and life has been a tale of struggle within and battles outside. It has had a very tenuous existence with several forces trying to tear it asunder right from Day One.

MS Unnikrishnan

Though Hockey India (HI) was created by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) at the bidding of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to ensure that the 2010 World Cup stayed put in Delhi, it has been on a roller-coaster ride since then, battling demons within and forces outside to stay afloat.

Hockey India was formed with an ad-hoc administration, headed by then IOA treasurer Ashok Kumar Mattoo, as the head. But it was tough going for him from Day One, as the FIH started threatening that it would pull the World Cup out of Delhi if the HI did not conduct proper elections to put an elected body in place before the tournament, though a private organising committee had been formed to hold the World Cup. Then followed a series of startling developments, cornering HI from all sides.

With IOA president Suresh Kalmadi being busy as chairman of the Organising Committee of the Commonwealth Games, it was left to the ad-hoc committee to run HI affairs, which Mattoo and Co. found too difficult to handle.

The players attending the World Cup preparatory camp in Pune, under Spanish coach Jose Brasa, struck work in January 2010, demanding that their past dues and incentives be cleared, otherwise they would not attend the camp. The players’ revolt came barely six weeks before the World Cup (February 28-March 13). FIH vice-president Antonio von Ondarza, who was deputed as the observer for the HI elections, tried to mediate and had expressed shock over the development. He felt that “the players should concentrate on training, instead of indulging in pressure tactics”. But the players were unmoved.

Though HI initially took a tough stand, saying that it had an additional list of 22 players and bluntly told the players to give in writing whether they would be attending the camp or not, the players were not willing to backtrack. HI sent a mediator to pacify the players but the stand-off continued and the issue was resolved only when Kalmadi intervened and Sahara Group chairman Subroto Roy came forward to clear the players’ dues amounting to rupees one crore to ensure that the World Cup camp went on smoothly.

Mattoo was upset that he was kept out of the loop in the discussions with the players regarding the final settlement when Kalmadi stepped in and resigned as the head of the ad-hoc committee, giving the HI reins to former president of the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation, Vidya Stokes.

Then began the cumbersome task of bringing the State hockey associations under the HI banner so that proper elections could be held before the World Cup, as demanded by the FIH. But many States had to contend with two hockey bodies — and Punjab was one of them. When the HI showed no inclination to induct the body headed by former Indian captain Pargat Singh, Punjab raised a banner of revolt, which got backing from the then Sports Minister M.S. Gill.

Eventually, Punjab was given affiliation though it was another matter that Pargat lost the battle of the ballot for the HI president’s post to Stokes, who herself quit soon, adhering to the Government guidelines on age and tenure limit. The elections had to be postponed initially due to a stay order passed by the Rajasthan High Court.

The sexual harassment allegation against women’s team chief coach M.K. Kaushik, rifts among players in the men’s team and chief coach Brasa’s regular battle with the authorities to get the players proper training facilities, all kept the HI on tenterhooks, which reached saturation point when the Sports Ministry de-recognised it when the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) won a decisive court battle, to script another turbulent chapter in Indian hockey.

Shoe problem for India

The India hockey team is facing an acute shortage of shoes ahead of the summit clash against Pakistan in the Asian Champions Trophy here tomorrow as most of the players have only one pair of shoes for warm-up sessions as well as for matches.

Manjit Kullu, the left half back in the Indian team, has been playing with warm-up shoes in the tournament after his only pair of hockey turf shoes had split into two. Playing with warm-up shoes is akin to running on ice wearing normal shoes and Manjit is lucky that he has not injured himself till now.

The other Indian player who is without turf shoes is Harpreet Singh. The turf is slippery here at Ordos and both the players are at constant risk of slipping, which can cause serious injury to them.