Hockey India ready to present its case before international federation

India risk being de-recognised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) over the issue of governance even as Hockey India (HI) is ready to present its case before the executive council of the world body in Lausanne on Saturday.

FIH has expressed displeasure at the ‘administrative arrangement’ between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) decided on July 25. The two bodies had consented to form a joint executive board and joint working committee.

However, in order to keep India’s international status intact, HI is ready to move on as an independent body administering the game in the country. “It is difficult for us to merge with IHF now,” HI secretary general Narendra Batra told DNA before leaving for Lausanne on Thursday.

Batra said he was confident of resolving the issue at Saturday’s meeting. “If the FIH believes we have violated their constitution, they are well within their rights to do so (de-recognise),” Batra added. “We have sent our reply and I will reiterate those points at Lausanne. I will try to clarify our position to the FIH board’s satisfaction.”

India’s hosting rights for the crucial Olympic qualifying tournament in February next year also depends on this meeting’s outcome.

An FIH spokesman refused to divulge details regarding the de-recognition issue but said the host city for the qualifier would be named only after the meeting. “The FIH has previously stated that Hockey India is the recognised body. A decision regarding this shall be taken by the executive council and we will declare the host city after the meeting,” the spokesman said.

HI signed a host-city agreement with the FIH on November 8, making their intentions of conducting the tourney in New Delhi clear.