Hockey players eyeing crucial meeting today

Stories of Indian sportsmen (Olympic disciplines) being treated shabbily at national tournaments is nothing new. And on Thursday history repeated itself as the senior national hockey championship kicked off in Bhopal.


Shivendra Singh

However, less than 24 four hours after the fiasco, India's hockey players are hoping to see some light at the end of the tunnel that houses the national game. The Indian hockey set-up is a mess with Hockey India (HI) and the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) at loggerheads over a long-standing dispute for recognition and power-sharing.


Arjun Halappa

And finally, the government, in a bid to crack the whip, has called for a meeting between the two bodies in New Delhi today to be presided over by Union sports minister Ajay Maken. Maken is expected to lay down a proposal to HI and the IHF to merge or risk government intervention and firm action.


Ajay Maken

Players are now hoping for a positive outcome from this meeting. "We (players) have been tense for quite some time now as we've not been able to figure out what tournament we should be playing in as some are approved by HI and not recognized by IHF or vice versa. Finally, I'm happy that the sports ministry has intervened and I believe things will be clearer from now on," India striker Shivendra Singh told MiD DAY from Bhopal.

India skipper Arjun Halappa could not agree more. "This is a very important year for Indian hockey given the Olympic qualifiers is round the corner. We will also be hosting the Champions Trophy. As players, we stay away from political matters, but we do hope that there is one unified hockey body to run the sport effectively. This will give us stability and direction," said Halappa.

UP and down...
On Thursday members of the Uttar Pradesh hockey team were stunned to find or rather not find any representative of the organising committee of the Hockey India-organised senior national hockey championship in Bhopal to receive them at the railway station. Furthermore, the players have been huddled like livestock into small rooms at the Tatya Tope Stadium dormitory ufffd as many as eight players are sharing a single room with one bathroom and poor ventilation.