New Delhi, Nov 12 (IANS) Election to Hockey India (HI) has been deferred as some state units raised doubts over the process of affiliation.
The sports ministry has asked the HI to put off the election till the affiliation problems were sorted out.

Stung by the government move, HI secretary general Aslam Khan has decided to put in his papers as he would not be in a position to put in place an elected HI before his term was over.

HI had set in motion the election process for a new body by November 18 to meet the international body’s deadline for the installation of a unified body.

“HI suggested tentative dates for election. We had some concerns and we have conveyed it to them. We have told them that election could be held only after the affiliation process was carried out transparently,” Injeti Srinivas, joint secretary in the Department of Sports, told IANS Thursday.

“We are hoping that HI will respond in the next couple of days.”

Asked whether the ministry is in touch with the state units, Srinivas said: “No, we are not directly in touch with the state units because that is not our domain. But we are in touch with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) representative and IOA and they have been talking to the state units.”

Some of the state units unhappy over the affiliation process welcomed the decision to postpone the election.

A member of the J.B.Roy-led faction said that all they want is transparency in the process of granting affiliation to state units before conducting the election.

Roy, who is the president of Bengal Hockey Association, Amrit Bose, who is the secretary-general of the superseded Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF), met Indian Olympic Association president Suresh Kalmadi Thursday and explained their viewpoint on the election.

FIH vice-president Tony von Ondarza, who has been appointed as the observer for the election, will be meeting HI officials Friday.