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Sporty India Institutions:   by  on 2009-10-31 01:19:04
 Subject :Indian Hockey: Victim of the greed of a few.. 2011-07-31 20:35:45 
sportyin
Joined: 2009-06-16 00:07:19
Posts: 77
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Courtesy:Siddhartha Mishra

Comedy and tragedy are ancient bedfellows indistinguishable from each other in their conjoint state in the cursed world that is Indian hockey. For a nation once inarguably the gold standard in the sport and yet reduced to being nowhere near the astroturf at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the uncharacteristic show of seriousness in qualifying for the 2012 London Games, evidenced in the appointment without much ado of Australian coach Michael Nobbs for a five-year term, is being swiftly and surely — expectedly and unfortunately — followed by the familiarity of backroom foul play masquerading as a step forward.

Whereas decisive action was the script demanded after three long years of rancour and uncertainty succeeded by two intense months of mediation and discussions, a mockery has been made of the need of the hour by those ostensibly serving the game. Shame. Blame the office-bearers of those conveniently-at-war factions known as the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Hockey India (HI) who, in the latest instance of their unambiguous attempt to use to their advantage the entirely unique situation of the former outfit’s legitimacy being upheld by court and the latter’s by the global governing body, the International Hockey Federation (FIH), have offered for public consumption the charade of temporary truce. Temporary? When their mutually-beneficial deal to work together stretches for a year and a half — often a lifetime in sport — till December 31, 2012? Truce? When the arrangement is unencumbered by the compulsion to partially surrender power that would have been necessitated by a merger?

It is nobody’s case that the unification of the IHF and HI — different organisations only in name, neither ever having been guilty of showing sincerity to any cause other than their own vested interests — will translate into a bright tomorrow for what was, in a bygone era, India’s national game. Ominously, the coupling of the two bodies into a single unit would appear to be the lesser of two evils. For, in the current context, the duality of the new regime — two separate entities, each with its own agenda and legal cases against the other to fight, brought together under the umbrella of a joint executive panel and working committee — is bound to create new complications that will further hamper hopes of revival. Indeed, there are basic questions — preliminary to a more demanding examination — to contend with. Expect conspiracy and politicking, dissidence and infighting.

Unsurprisingly, the FIH has rejected this relationship between the two warring factions, its own rule book, the Olympic Charter and the Indian government’s own guidelines stating that there can only be one national governing body for a sport. Ergo, not only is the contrived partnership between the IHF and HI an uncomfortable alliance, it is undeniably illegitimate.

That such a situation emerges at a time when the national team — its players and their concerns as ever trapped in the IHF-HI crossfire — need clarity with regard to the administrative set-up as a non-negotiable condition in the attempt to secure a berth for the London Olympics, and the FIH has threatened to deprive India of the honour of hosting a slew of prestigious tournaments over the next few years, is of alarming consequence. While red-carding India might not be part of the FIH’s immediate game plan, such a decision could yet be reality.

Whether the administrators running — and ruining — Indian hockey perceive this clear and present danger as comedy or tragedy remains to be seen.
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