We are not responsible for hockey mess: FIH

NEW DELHI: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday claimed that it was not at fault over the mismanagement concerning the Hero Honda hockey World Cup, which is starting here on Sunday.

FIH’s communication manager Arjen Meijer made the revelation on an eventful day when the media, upset over the delay in getting accreditation cards as well as for being denied access to the players and the National Stadium, decided to partly boycott a press conference featuring the FIH official.

The media attended the press conference, arranged to announce a tie-up between Karbonn Mobiles and FIH for the World Cup, but staged a walkout as soon as Meijer started to speak. “The FIH is with the media. And let me tell you, we are not at fault,” Meijer said later without putting the blame on anyone.

The organisers later arranged four players from different countries for media interaction, a first since the arrival of the teams in the Capital for the event. Australia were the first team to reach on Monday.

The Karbonn Mobiles bosses, meanwhile, said that each member of the team would be awarded Rs 2.5 lakh if India win the World Cup.