IHF runs hockey without FIH sanction

NEW DELHI: Will India''s real hockey body stand up, please? With the ''president'' of the ''Indian Hockey Federation'', KPS Gill calling for elections this month, a year before it was scheduled, who runs hockey in India has itself come under scrutiny.
Does the IHF have the power to call elections at all? If so, then what is the standing of the Indian Hockey Confederation (IHC), which came into being in December 2000, as per FIH (the world body) regulation.And Gill is not even the all-powerful supremo here. Vidya Stokes, the former president of the erstwhile Indian Womens Hockey Federation (IWHF), is, in fact, the president of the IHC, the only body FIH recognises. Stokes took over after the end of Gill''s term in December, 2004.
In fact, on February 5, 2005, Stokes wrote to FIH''s secretary-general Peter Cohen informing him that she was taking over as the president of the IHC. Stokes'' letter, a copy of which is with TOI, states, "Now I take over the duties of the President of Indian Hockey Confederation from 1st December 2004 to 30th November, 2006."Incidentally, copies of the letter were also sent to the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Suresh Kalmadi and the secretary general of the Asian Hockey Federation DP Alagendra besides Gill.
A spokesperson of the FIH, Mathew Slades confirmed to TOI on Wednesday from the FIH headquarters in Switzerland that the IHC indeed represented Indian hockey. "According to our statute, the IHC is the apex body for Indian hockey.�
Stokes told this paper that the merger of the IWHF and IHF had happened due to the new regulation of the international body which is in force since 2000. She said that election of the IHC should be held jointly with members of both bodies included. However, Stokes said, "Internationally, I may be the president of India''s hockey body and there should be no IWHF or IHF but things have just continued like old here with IHF official running their own show."
The IHF top brass was not willing to comment on the issue. Both Gill and ''secretary-general'' K Jothikumaran refused to comment when contacted by the TOI.
As president, Stokes is vested with executive powers and handle important decisions such as dealing with the government for grants, participation of national teams in international events and selecting national coaches for both men and women. So far, all this has been done independently by the IHF without ever consulting Stokes. "I should be consulted as president for appointment of the chief coach or the naming of the men''s team but that rarely happens. Though sometime when we go to the FIH meeting, we try to speak in one voice. That''s how things are here,"Stokes said.
Interestingly, the sports ministry has no knowledge about the merger of the two bodies even four years after it took place. "Can you fax us a copy of the IHC constitution. We''ve not been informed about the merger,"said a senior ministry official who didn''t want to be named. The official, to make matters worse, declared, "But, we''ve been giving grants to both the bodies separately."
The stand of the IOA: We will act only if the international body asks us. IOA''s secretary-general, Randhir Singh said, "We will act only if the FIH tells us. So far as we know, both IHF and IWHF are affiliated to us."Asked if they recognise IHC, Singh refused to comment. Perhaps, remaining silent helps them garner votes during their elections.