“We can’t change the direction of the wind, but we can adjust the sails,” is an Indian proverb, and it is one that may well be worth remembering in the coming month.
Much has been written on what is claimed as being Britain’s legacy to India following Independence. Amongst what have been sometimes condescendingly referred to as ‘gifts’ or ‘teachings,’ cricket, the rule of law, democracy, liberalism, the English language, and the civil service are often listed. Understandably many in India will dispute these claims, and in many cases history is on their side. In 2005 the then Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, when speaking at Oxford University diplomatically summed the situation up by saying those listed had “all been fashioned in the crucible where an age-old civilization of India met the dominant Empire of the day.”
He went on to say “Our judiciary, our legal system, our bureaucracy, and our police are all great institutions, derived from British-Indian administration, and they have served our country exceedingly well.”
It is that bureaucracy when it comes to sport that some will say has held India back, while others will argue that it has in fact kept things in check and prevented corruption.
Last week former Indian Hockey World Cup Winner Aslam Sher Khan filed Public Interest Litigation against Hockey India (HI), its CEO Ms Elena Norman and the President of the FIH (International Hockey Federation) Narender Batra. The petition lodged with the High Court in New Delhi alleges that the sports federation has violated the national sports code.
As reported in the Indian press Khan is seeking to quash “the articles in HI’s Memorandum of Association (MOA) under which the posts of ‘life member’, life president’ and ‘CEO’ with unlimited tenure and full voting rights have been created.” It has also been reported that “Khan has also sought a direction from the ministry to cancel affiliation of HI till its MOA is amended, appointments of Batra and Norman are terminated and fresh elections are held.”
Unfortunately for Dr Batra, who is also President of the Indian Olympic Association this is another battle that he will have to fight, after an accusation was made in early June by Indian Olympic Association Vice-President Sudhanshu Mittal questioning his eligibility to be FIH President. Both the IOC and the FIH were quick to dismiss the accusations with the FIH’s Integrity Unit stating “according to the FIH Statutes at the time, there was no requirement for Dr Batra to change his relationship with Hockey India after his election as FIH President in November 2016. He therefore committed no breach of the procedure or the FIH Statutes.” The IOC statement was similar to the FIH’s stating that that the election had taken place in accordance with the then IOA constitution. Both International bodies released their findings on the same day.
Dr Batra is no stranger to controversy and is a master politician, he also has a Bachelor of Law degree, although he has never practised. He does however know his way around the legal system. He and the others mentioned in the litigation have been given until September 28th to enter their plea.
Dr Batra will have seen this all before. He was the Senior Vice President of the Indian Hockey Federation, a position he held from 2002 to 2008, when he resigned from his post on 08 March. India’s failure to qualify for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games was he said at the time the reason for his resignation. He also begged the Government to take over the Federation to save the game. In April 2008 the Indian Hockey Federation was accused of corruption and suspended by the Indian Olympic Association. At the time it was reported in the Indian press that pressure was put on the IOA by the FIH to try and arrest the decline in Indian Hockey.
Play The Game wrote at the time that “It is reported that FIH chief Els van Breda Vriesman suggested that the FIH would be unable to work with the Indian Hockey Federation to stage the 2010 World Cup and a hockey promotion project in India while the corruption allegations hung over the IHF.”
In May 2009 a new Governing body was formed in India called Hockey India. This was in spite of the fact that the Indian Hockey Federation was still officially the national body. Court cases would rumble on over which was the ruling body for a number of years, but in 2011 the FIH announced that it recognised Hockey India as the game’s governing body.
This would be another contentious issue. The FIH had asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to make a decision on the which was the recognised body.The IOA had accepted a decision by its special committee that Hockey India should be the official body. But the High Court, on a petition by IHF, had ordered that the status quo be maintained until the case before them had been heard. The IOA therefore had to abide by the law of the land.
Subsequently, the FIH then changed its own rules and made the decision itself to pronounce over the recognition of theGoverning body. The FIH then moved to be withdrawn from the High Court proceedings, saying that it had withdrawn its directive to the IOA for deciding on the recognition.
While all of this was going on Dr Batra had stayed involved in the game. The 2010 Men’s World Cup in India went ahead as planned, and he was a member of the Organising Committee. He would also become a key player in the regeneration of the game in India. He would hold the position of Secretary General and Treasurer of Hockey India from 2009-2010 and then was Secretary General of Hockey India from 2010-2014. He would become President of Hockey India in 2014 until 2016, when he resigned after becoming the first Asian to be elected President of the FIH. Interestingly in his speech during the 2016 FIH Congress he thanked members of the FIH for helping to get him involved in Indian Hockey.
“To come into India scene or World scene I must be thankful initially to Leandro (Negre Former President), Tony von Ondarza, Peter Cohen, they are the ones who initially got me into India, and Leandro and Kelly (Fairweather former CEO) helped me to where I am standing today,” he said
As part of the reviving of hockey in India, and also due to the financial incentives to be had there, the FIH agreed to India hosting an international tournament once a year. Something they did exceptionally well and the events were well attended and memorable. However it was the Hockey India League which probably did more to raise not only the standard of hockey in India but also to showcase the game globally. The cream of the crop of World players were signed up to play for various franchise sides, international coaches worked alongside local Indian coaches and they benefitted greatly from that exposure. However it was the players who benefitted the most, playing alongside men who had won World Cups and Olympic medals, these young Indian players watched and learned what you had to do to be successful.
This was clearly something that Dr Batra believed in as on a presentation slide during the Presidential elections in 2016 he advocated players from different countries playing in the same teams as a key to development.
It is a great shame that the League has now not taken place for two years. After the postponement of the 2018 tournament it was announced that it would be back in November 2019, but it never happened. The league as a spectacle was superb, as was the hockey, but was not backed up with the necessary marketing. (No HIL Equals Hockey in Limbo)
The FIH continues to focus on India and the World Cup will be heading back to Bhubaneswar. The money promised simply could not be ignored by the cash-strapped world body. (Oh Dear Sir)
Interestingly the return to India goes against Dr Batra’s address to members in Dubai when he was elected President. “I would like to take hockey across the globe, extend the boundaries.” He said. “If you want Hockey to grow and remain in the Olympics hockey has to spread, and nowadays everything is calculated in terms of how much is your viewership, how much you earn out of it, which I call reach and revenue. Reach means expand your business, we can’t restrict ourselves to top 10 or 12 it has to spread and spread across the globe, that is when your reach will increase and the moment you have more audience, more people, your revenue comes up. Football is supporting its member countries, cricket is supporting, till now we are not in hockey,” He went on to add “If I get a chance I will make it clear that hockey has to spread your numbers across TV, social media everywhere.”
Sadly four years on from those words we have seen both the Hockey World League and the Hockey Series that were going to grow the game, both canned. Also the Champions Trophy has been laid to rest; although rumours exist it may return, fingers crossed that is the case. Add to those to the demise of the Hockey India League and a great deal of top flight hockey has been lost. While the FIH Pro League is solely about the top 10 teams in the world. Money is not filtering down, as there is no money, as sponsorship levels had already dropped prior to the Covid 19 Pandemic.
Now there is more unrest in India, and the game there is possibly facing another period of off-field upheaval. How will the FIH react this time around?
The FIH is in a very awkward position, as one of the accused is the current FIH President. So any involvement from their part would need to be taken extremely cautiously.
In the event that the High Court rules in favour of Mr Khan, where would that leave Hockey India? As mentioned Mr Khan has also sought the ministry to cancel affiliation of Hockey India until its Memorandum of Association is amended, appointments of Dr Batra and Ms Norman are terminated, and fresh elections are held. If the IOA suspend Hockey India would the FIH be forced to do the same? That is what they did in 2008, so why should things be different now? Depending on the timing of the hearing could that put their participation at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 in jeopardy?
That would seem extremely harsh as the players have done nothing wrong, and they would be the ones being penalised along with the millions of hockey fans who genuinely believe after decades that India can medal again.
Once again, dependent on the outcome of the hearing can the FIH still allow India to host the International events scheduled? What message would that send to the other members of the World body?
The communication coming out of the FIH during this time will be crucial in terms of preserving its reputation. During Dr Batra’s address at the Presidential elections in Dubai one slide stated that he stood for “transparent, ethical and professional communication.” Which is exactly what is going to be needed.
These questions are all currently hypothetical. Dr Batra has found himself in similarly awkward positions in the past, but has so far always managed to navigate the turbulent waters. One thing he will be relieved about is that the Congress planned for 2020 where his Presidency could have been challenged has been postponed to mid 2021.
The key date is the 28th of September when the pleas of those against whom the accusations have been made must be lodged.
Then it will come down to bureaucracy.
