Thaindian News

By Avishek Roy
New Delhi, Jan 8 (IANS) The Hockey India (HI) elections have been postponed yet again and cannot be held on Jan 29.

The election cannot be held Jan 29 because HI is yet to complete necessary formalities and give the mandatory 21-day notice for calling the general body meeting to elect the office-bearers, government-appointed observer S.K. Mendiratta told IANS.

Mendiratta also said there are some pending “affiliation issues”.

“It will not be held on Jan 29. There are some recent developments so the schedule has to be worked out again,” Mendiratta said.

“If the election were to be held Jan 29, they (HI) should have issued the notice by now. According to their (HI) constitution, they have to issue the notice for the election 21 days in advance,” he said.

Asked what was the reason for the delay, he said: “They (HI) have told me that there are some pending affiliation issues and they are holding a meeting on Jan 11.”

HI president Ashok Kumar Mattoo agreed that there were “a couple of issues” that needed to be addressed first before issuing a notice, but insisted that the election will be held a day or two later than the announced date.

“I am not keen to hold the baby any longer and want to see the election held as soon as possible. I have no interest in carrying on in an ad-hoc capacity for long. In any case, I have no personal axe to grind as I am not a candidate for any post in the new hockey set-up,” Mattoo told IANS.

Mattoo said they will sit with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Mendiratta to chart out the next plan of action.

“The election will be held within the timeline (before the World Cup).

“We are going to have a meeting next week with the FIH and the government-appointed observer and decide on the course of action.”

“Nobody wants to delay the election. But the restrictions imposed for it are more than the general election. I am sure that everything will be sorted out.”

The affiliation process of HI has come under the scanner over the past few days with Hockey Punjab crying foul for not being given recognition.

Delhi, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala are the other states which are yet to get the affiliation.

This is the second time that the HI elections have been postponed.

FIH has maintained that HI should hold the election before the World Cup scheduled to commence Feb 28.