FIH not 'satisfied' with Hockey India CoA's reply, says 20 weeks turnaround time for election, adoption of Constitution not acceptable

Lausanne (Switzerland), July 26 (IANS) The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Tuesday said that it is not satisfied by the reply of Committee of Administrators (CoA) governing Hockey India, to their previous letter and "cannot accept the turnaround time of 20 weeks" for adopting a new Constitution and put in place a duly recognised and democratically-elected board.

The FIH had earlier warned the CoA to conduct elections as soon as possible to avoid jeopardizing the Men's World Cup to be held in Odisha in January 2023.

In its third letter to the Delhi High Court-appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA), FIH CEO Thierry Weil said the 20 weeks time was "unacceptable" to the world body and asked for prompt action.

"We refer to your email of 22 July 2022, in which you mentioned that you will facilitate the amendments to the Constitution, holding of elections and handing over the affairs to the democratically elected body within the 20 weeks from the date of Judgement. In this regard, we consider that to be an unsatisfactory reply, however,'' Weil said in his letter to the COA.

"...we would like to reiterate once again that FIH cannot accept this turnaround time of 20 weeks. Please be advised that the Constitution's amendments and its adoption as well as the holding of the elections to the Executive Board of Hockey India will have to be held promptly," he added.

Last week, FIH had said that it will send a delegation to India to assess the current situation of Hockey India (HI), following the resignation of Narinder Batra from his post.

Former Indian Olympic Association (IOA) chief Batra had resigned from the post of International Hockey Federation (FIH) president, thus relinquishing all three top posts -- IOA chief, International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and FIH head -- he was holding.

Notably, Hockey India is currently under the rule of a Committee of Administrators (COA) on the orders of the Delhi High Court because of an alleged violation of the National Sports Code.

The Delhi High Court ruling came on a petition filed by former India player Aslam Sher Khan, who had challenged Batra's appointment as a life member of Hockey India. The High Court held that the appointment of Batra as its life member and Elena Norman as DEO were illegal, and thus the administrative setup of Hockey India was erroneous or illegal.