NEW DELHI: Hockey India (HI) on Sunday dismissed allegations that it was purposefully denying affiliation to Hockey Punjab, saying the delay in recognising the state body was because of some serious allegations made by HP members.

HI president AK Mattoo dismissed newly-elected HP chief Sukhbir Singh Badal’s claim that Indian Olympic Association was hatching a conspiracy against the state by debarring it from the national body’s January 29 election.

“We are in the course of finalising all the affiliation issues, including that of Punjab. There were some serious issues raised by some members within HP and that is why it has not been granted affiliation till now,” Mattoo said even though he did not disclose what were those allegations.

“It is not that we are not interested in granting them affiliation. We are looking into the matter. There is no question of keeping anyone out from the election process.

“As soon the five-member committee, which is looking into the affiliation matters, gives us their recommendation we will take a decision on Punjab and other states as well. There will be complete fairness on our part,” Matto said. Earlier in the day, Badal accused the IOA of hatching a conspiracy against the state body by debarring it from the election process.

“It’s shocking that they have denied us affiliation. There is something fishy in IOA, which has debarred not only Punjab but also major hockey playing states like Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala,” Badal said.

“Now they have an election on January 29 without recognising the major hockey states. It smacks of a major conspiracy not to allow us participate in the election. It’s a major scam,” said Badal. However, according to sources in HI, there were serious written complaints from within HP against its own election process.

The source said that the five-member committee – comprising Vidya Stokes, Narinder Batra, Mohd Mushtaque Ahmed, Rajeev Mehta and Amrit Bose – would meet in the capital on Tuesday and discuss the affiliation issues of Punjab and other states like Delhi, Kerala, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Karnataka among others.

“The affiliation committee will meet here on Tuesday and by January 7 we will come out with a decision on all the affiliation issues,” the HI source said.

“HI is not against anyone but there should be transparency in the affiliation process. There were allegations against Mr Badal that he was not present during the election process but still was elected president. How can that happen?” the source added.

Incidentally, Badal is reportedly interested in the top Hockey India post, even though the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister remained coy when asked if he would contest in the January 29 election if Punjab got affiliation.

He merely said that politics should not be allowed to mar the future of the national game.

“Politicking has no place in sports and nobody should indulge in it, especially when we are hosting the hockey World Cup and then the Commonwealth Games this year,” Badal said.

Badal also dismissed suggestions that HP’s election was disputed and he had Punjab Olympic Association president SS Dhindsa to vouch for for him.

“All this talk about disputes and factionalism is rubbish. We had four associations in the state who merged to form Hockey Punjab, as per IOA guidelines, and elected me unanimously as its president. The presidents and vice presidents of the earlier associations are office-bearers in Hockey Punjab,” he said.

Dhindsa backed his view and said, “We did have multiple associations in the state but they have merged and elected Badal as their chief. We oversaw the election and Badal was chosen unanimously. IOA must be having some mischievous designs,” said Dhindsa.

Former India captain and Punjab Sports Director Pargat Singh said he took up the issue with the IOA top brass but they kept the buck passing.

“What is exasperating is that we are not being told why we are not getting the affiliation despite going through the procedure. We have met the IOA top brass, wrote them at least four times and even took up the issue with FIH vice-president Antonio van Ondarza when he came to Delhi but to no avail,” he said.