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IOA defends Indian Hockey Federation

Special Correspondent

Says K.P.S. Gill’s resignation is not the solution
Non-commital on large-scale administrative changes

NEW DELHI: Waking up four days after the hockey debacle in Santiago, the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday stated that it was upset and “ashamed” by the failure of the Indian team to qualify for the Olympics, but defended the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and its president.

Having convened a press conference on Friday to field questions regarding the disaster that has struck Indian hockey for the first time in 80 years, the IOA Secretary-General, Randhir Singh, started on the wrong foot by blaming the Union Government for the ills plaguing Indian sports.

Discussion on debacle

However, on persistent questioning about the manner in which the game of hockey has plunged to several new “lows” in recent times including the fifth-place finish in the Doha Asian Games and now the ignominy of not qualifying for the Olympics, Randhir Singh said that the IOA would sit across the table with the IHF soon and find out what went wrong. No date had been fixed, however, for the meeting.

“We are upset and hurt as anyone else” by the failure of the hockey team, Randhir Singh said, but said he did not feel that the stepping down of K.P.S. Gill from the post of IHF president would be the right response to this situation.

Charlesworth’s plight

Randhir Singh’s reference to the project initiated by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to boost Indian hockey only paved the way for the media quizzing him about the plight of the Australian coach, Ric Charlesworth, who was stranded in Perth, waiting for a ticket to go to Chile when the Indian team was being eliminated from the Olympic race.

Unconvinced by the IOA official’s arguments about the Union Sports Ministry not signing the contract with the Australian legend, it was pointed out to him that the IHF and its coaching staff had remained the stumbling block in this episode despite pressure from the FIH. Randhir Singh admitted that it was a “joint collapse of the system” that resulted in this plight of Indian hockey. He said he was confident of revamping the system but failed to provide a credible answer to why the system could not have been revamped at least after the Doha Asian Games debacle.

Ad hoc body

Asked whether the IOA would step in to de-recognise the IHF and appoint an ad hoc body in view of the mismanagement of the game, as was done once in the 70s, Randhir Singh was non-committal and only re-iterated his statement that they would meet up with the federation to find the best way out.

Asked about the threat of the FIH to take the 2010 World Cup away from Delhi if the IHF did not meet certain conditions that it was expected to meet by this month, Randhir Singh said that he had a talk with the FIH President and efforts would be made to ensure that India hosted the event.

Harping on the topic of autonomy of the federations, the IOA Secretary admitted, “Autonomy does not mean bad governance.” That was the closest that he came to criticising the IHF, even if obliquely.

Randhir Singh evaded questions regarding the so-called “autonomy” in countries that depended solely on Government funds for their sports promotion and also ducked a question regarding the “accountability” of National federations in other countries.

A wake-up call

“Hockey is a wake-up call, but there should be no witch-hunting,” said Randhir Singh. He was critical of the lack of support from the government in the preparations of the teams for the Olympic Games.

He said that the IOA President, Suresh Kalmadi, and he would meet Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi during the Davis Cup tie against Japan here (April 11-13) to sort out any differences they might be having in order to field them as a doubles combination in the Beijing Games.

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