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The Sports Ministry’s effort to end the long-standing imbroglio in hockey ended on a futile note as differences continued to persist between Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) as Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Friday gave a 21-day deadline to both to present a new merger proposal.
Faced with the prospect of Indian team being ousted from the race to the Olympics, the sports ministry held a meeting with the IOA, HI and the IHF on Friday but it too failed to resolve the crisis related to the game’s governance.
Soon after emerging from the meeting, a peeved HI secretary general Narinder Batra said that the temporary power-sharing arrangement reached between both the federations on the behest of the ministry was over. He made it clear that HI was not going to present any new proposal to IOA and would stick to the 10-point agenda made by the government.
“We will not present any new proposal. We have already made our stand clear and we will stick to that,” Batra said.
“Let IHF present their proposal (to IOA). If IHF’s proposal is within the 10-point formula of the government then we have no problem, otherwise court will decide the matter,” he added.
IHF president R K Shetty blamed the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the whole mess: “The government is not FIH’s servant. How can FIH refuse to accept government’s point of view?”
Faced with the prospect of Indian team being ousted from the race to the Olympics, the sports ministry held a meeting with the IOA, HI and the IHF on Friday but it too failed to resolve the crisis related to the game’s governance.
Soon after emerging from the meeting, a peeved HI secretary general Narinder Batra said that the temporary power-sharing arrangement reached between both the federations on the behest of the ministry was over. He made it clear that HI was not going to present any new proposal to IOA and would stick to the 10-point agenda made by the government.
“We will not present any new proposal. We have already made our stand clear and we will stick to that,” Batra said.
“Let IHF present their proposal (to IOA). If IHF’s proposal is within the 10-point formula of the government then we have no problem, otherwise court will decide the matter,” he added.
IHF president R K Shetty blamed the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the whole mess: “The government is not FIH’s servant. How can FIH refuse to accept government’s point of view?”
