Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation decide to work together
At long last, the feuding sports units of India namely Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) have reached an accord under which they would jointly govern the sport’s matters in the country.
The decision regarding the amalgamation of two hockey units came in the meeting of Sports Ministry which had given them a final chance to settle the matters. The two bodies inked an accord after the meeting in which they announced to work mutually in sport’s
affairs of India.
A media handout issued by the Sports Ministry stated that the merging unit would be responsible for many tasks. It added, “The combined body which will work towards a formal merger will undertake selection of national teams, preparation of national teams
and participation of the national teams in international tournaments including the 2012 London Olympics.”
The crisis between the two bodies developed back in 2008 when Indian Olympic Association (IOA) had suspended the India Hockey Federation after TV channel broadcasted a video showing Secretary of the body taking bribe for picking out players. The IOA constituted
an ad-hoc unit to run the hockey affairs.
In result of the threats from International Hockey Federation (FIH) for taking away the 2010 World Cup from India in the absence of hockey federation, a unit namely Hockey India was formulated back in May 2009. In an unparalleled move, the Delhi High Court
declared the orders of the government null and void regarding IHF suspension, which gave it a new life.
After numerous controversies particularly in the head of sports affairs, both the bodies moved to the Supreme Court which asked them to resolve the matters with negotiations. The Sports Ministry warned the two parties to settle the disputes in the July 25,
2011 meeting otherwise it would show their stance over the matter. Finally, both the units agreed to work together and formally signed an agreement to run the sport’s affairs in India.
It is worth mentioning here that both the IHF and HI will continue their actions individually under the anticipated agreement. It was mentioned in the statement that the agreement would not stop the two parties to look for the exploration of the confederation
or merger at later stage with the communal negotiations.
As per the agreement, the two units will constitute a combined executive board until December 31, 2012 for partial objectives. Both sides also agreed upon to give a new name to the merging unit which will be picked up from Hockey Bharat, India Hockey and
Bharat Hockey.
Hockey India and IHF presidents will chair and co-chair the proposed joint executive board. On the other side, Hockey India had given the players green signal to participate in the lucrative World Series Hockey (WSH).
The statement further stated, “The ministry would now grant provisional recognition to HI as national sports federation and maintain status quo in respect of the recognition of IHF as the national sports federation for hockey up to December 31, 2012.”
The agreement became possible with the extensive efforts of Sports Minister Ajay Maken who expressed anticipations over the amalgamation saying that it would eliminate the uncertainty of players and teams in the world level tournaments. It will also assist
them to put hockey on the way towards revival of the past glory.
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