India not to host the FIH Men’s Champions Trophy to be held in December this year – Hockey News
International Hockey Federation (FIH), the world’s governing body for the sport of hockey, has decided to conduct the upcoming edition of FIH Men’s Champions Trophy somewhere else instead of conducting it in India.
Initially the event was to be held in New Delhi, India, from December 3 to 11 but due to the continuous brawl between two different governing bodies for the sport of hockey in India - Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India – over the discretions of ruling
the sport in the country, FIH has to make a strict decision to shift the event to some other place.
The new venue for the event will probably be decided within a week. The Champions Trophy is the second biggest event after the World Hockey Cup where the top eight teams across the world compete against each other for the title.
The Indian hockey team has also lost their place in the event as currently it is not in the top six nations and will now participate in the Champions Challenge tournament in South Africa this November.
Leandro Negre, the FIH president, looked sad regarding the decision of shifting the Men’s Champions Trophy from India to some other venue, still to be decided.
“We regret that we have to move the Champions Trophy from India. It is difficult for the teams, the organisers and the fans. But we feel that this is the only way to maintain the integrity of our sport,” Leandro Negre, the president of FIH, the international
governing body of the sport, stated his comments regarding the decision.
“It is a fundamental and non-negotiable requirement of the Olympic Charter and the FIH statutes that there only be one governing body for any one sport in any country,” FIH, the governing body of hockey further told about the mess up situation in India where
two different bodies are trying to govern the Indian Hockey.
Meanwhile Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary Ashok Mathur reacted on the decision of FIH by saying it was a ridiculous decision.
“FIH has no business withdrawing it (the tournament) from India when we have reached a settlement with honest intentions,” Ashok Mathur, the Secretary of IHF commented on the decision of FIH.
It will be interesting to see what India will do regarding this drastic decision by the FIH.
Tags: