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Hockey, once considered to be the glory of India, is in a dismal state due to a long-standing rift between two of its national bodies, the Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). The greed for power has already caused enough damage. The prestigious Champions Trophy, which was scheduled to be held in India, has been shifted to New Zealand. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has threatened that the Olympic qualifiers may also be shifted if the Olympic Charter and FIH statutes will not be adhered to solve the issue of governance of hockey in India. It is advised that there should be one governing body for hockey in the country. However, the two rival bodies refuse to give up their fight which acts upon the long term interest of the game.
The problem started in 2009 with the formation of Hockey India after disbanding the erstwhile IHF. The IHF was derecognized by the Center and de-affiliated by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on corruption charges. Initiatives were taken to dissolve the IHF after IHF Secretary K Jothikumaran was allegedly caught on camera in a sting operation taking bribe for selecting players. However, a decision by the Delhi High Court revived IHF. The Court questioned the procedure of disbanding the national body. Justice S Muralidhar, in his order, said that a show cause notice should be served before derecognizing the National Sporting Federation (NSF) which was not done in this case. It also mentioned that a national body could not be dissolved because of the misconduct of one of its office bearers. The Court specified that the government should not interfere into the autonomy of the sports bodies. The revival of IHF created a peculiar situation in hockey in India where there are two national bodies, one is affiliated by the world body and the other is not, but both of them have the legal status for their survival.
The rivalry started since then. Despite several warnings by the FIH and several attempts by the Government, there is no end of this war. The IHF, with the active support of Nimbus, is planning to organize the World Series Hockey (WSH) by the end of 2011 which will be played across 10 cities over a period of 10 weeks. The HI asked its players not to participate in the League. However, a few players have already given their consent to take part in the proposed WSH and the warning by HI compelled them to withdraw their participation. The HI has announced that a similar League will be organized by them. It may create an IPL- ICL type rivalry which may adversely affect the players, officials and the game as a whole. Even, the recent success of the national team in the Asian Hockey Championship did not inspire these rival bodies to work together for the best possible interest of Indian hockey. We have already lost the Champions Trophy and may lose a few more. The Government is helpless, so as we. The rift ruins the future of Indian hockey. We can only expect that a Dhyan Chand will emerge in the administration of hockey and will show his magical skills to rescue the game.
Ankan Banerjee
Member of Faculty
Naval Tata Centre of Excellence in Sports Management of
Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management, Kolkata
