‘Hockey India should manage the game’

Hockey India (HI) should manage the affairs of the game in the country. The Special Committee set up by the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to solve the vexing tussle between HI and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) made this recommendation in its report submitted on Wednesday.

“The decision was unanimous,” said Indian Wrestling Federation’s former president G.S. Mander, one of the committee members. The other two members were Indian Weightlifting Federation president Birendra Prasad Baishya and Handball Federation of India secretary-general S.M. Bali.

Mander said, “We have been impartial. After studying the reports submitted by the both the parties, we found that HI met all the statutes set by FIH (International Hockey Federation).

“We gave IHF three chances to present their case in person but no official from their side attended. They did submit their records though,” said Mander.

According to Mander, HI conformed to all the statues of the FIH. “The IHF did not have a unified body to run the men’s and women’s competitions whereas HI has a single body that conducts competitions in both.

“HI has 40 per cent representation for women in its Executive Committee, which meets the FIH statute,” he said.