Girish's Blog

The powers that be (read Suresh Kalmadi), decided a new body was in order to set right the mess in Indian hockey, as a result of which Hockey India was formed in place of the Indian Hockey Federation. Hockey administration has become a completely rudderless ship caught in a major storm in the high seas. Caught in the churning and frothing political waters, the sport has taken a complete back seat and the administrators are apparently making hay while the players are frothing at the complete disregard by the powers that be for their welfare. The players have gone on strike for the past few days as the promised match fees and piffling daily allowance has not been paid to the players for more than a year. Hockey India has a sponsorship deal for the national hockey team (men and women) which works out to Rs. 3.03 crores annually. If you account for the kit, training etc, I do not think the cost will go beyond Rs. 75 lacs a year for 50 players. This leaves a balance of Rs. 2.25 crores to be...

The Hockey World Cup may not be permitted to be held in India in 2010. The president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has conveyed a very strong message to the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) that if it does not put an elected hockey federation in place before the event, the event will move to Malaysia. Mr. K.P.S. Gill who had controlled the Indian Hockey Federation with an iron hand for decades was asked to quit in April 2008 on bribery charges made by players for being selected into the national team. Mr. Jothikumaran was the prime accused in the 2008 bribery scandal which forced the IOA to dissolve the Indian Hockey Federation and appoint an ad-hoc committee led by Aslam Sher Khan to oversee hockey administration in India. KPS Gill has filed a suit in court against the dissolution of the federation. It is sad to see a geriatric policeman who did his country proud in the fight against terror in Punjab in the eighties unleashing a different kind of terror in India’s hocke...