The Hindu : Sport : World Cup in Delhi, but questions remain

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Thursday, Nov 08, 2007
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World Cup in Delhi, but questions remain

Special Correspondent

FIH still reluctant to disclose the conditions

NEW DELHI: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday announced Delhi as the venue for the 2010 World Cup with a rider that the final confirmation about the host would be made known only in March 2008.

Delhi’s choice as the ‘venue in principle’ had long been a foregone conclusion, but with the FIH still reluctant to disclose the conditions that will have to be met by the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) by March next year, many questions on the uncertainty were put to FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman as she addressed the media here on Wednesday.

“If they (IHF) lean back, then we will have something to discuss,” Vriesman said in reply to persistent queries on the conditional acceptance of New Delhi as the venue.

“We won’t have any problem at all,” assured IHF Secretary, K. Jothikumaran, but the fact remained that the Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC), which on paper at least is the body controlling the sport in the country, is yet to find a sponsor to host the mega-event. “We will soon get a sponsor,” said Jothikumaran.

No details

Declining to provide details of the conditions to be fulfilled by either side by the March 1 deadline, Vriesman said that they were “confidential.”

Whether these pertained to the financial arrangements, lack of home sponsors, the IHF or Organising Committee set-up was not clear.

The only point that is clear at the moment is the 12th World Cup, if it is eventually confirmed in Delhi, will be a joint venture event between the FIH and the IHC.

The FIH had been getting directly involved in the organisation of its major events in the recent past and the joint effort in India is not a fresh development.

Vriesman, however, admitted that the event was being allotted to India as part of the project promoting Indian hockey. The FIH president explained that back in 2004 at the Olympics, when she and IOC President Jacques Rogge discussed India’s plight of a lone Olympic medal in Athens, the IOC chief wondered what could be done to remedy the situation, especially in hockey. That discussion eventually led to the drawing up of a project subsidised by Olympic Solidarity, with the collaboration of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and the FIH, Vriesman said.

As part of that project, Australian Ric Charlesworth, expected to arrive here on Thursday, would become Technical Advisor to Indian hockey. “India deserved to have a major event” to further project the game and thus the FIH decided not to look for other host countries to hold the 2010 World Cup, she said.

Glorious past

Vriesman kept emphasising India’s glorious past in the game and how important it was for the country to be in the forefront for the future too. She also said that the FIH was keen to be part of India’s economic growth and urged the corporate world to support the game in a big way domestically and internationally. A Governing Board, with former Dutch international Andre Bolhuis as its chairman, has been formed for the February 2010 World Cup . Apart from Jothikumaran, three other Indians have been named for the Board, Messrs S.D. Sharma, Ram Bagai and Neeraj Kansal, all either serving or retired Central Government officers.

The IHF has also proposed Atulya Mishra of the Sports Development Authority of Tamil Nadu as the secretary of the Board. Jothikumaran would be the interim chairman of the Organising Committee. Vriesman explained that a person based in Delhi would head the committee in due course.

IHF President K.P.S. Gill’s absence at the press conference led to much speculation. The FIH officials had held extensive discussions with Indian officials on Tuesday.

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