May 4, 2008 Indian Hockey Needs
More Than Cosmetic Changes By Anand Philar
It was only a sting, not a bite, and so it might turn out to be as
Indian hockey attempts to cleanse itself of scandal and corruption.
The Indian Olympic Association-appointed committee of grey-haired
Olympians would like the country to believe that it would be so, but
beneath the surface, precious little has changed or is likely to.
The dissolution of the Indian Hockey Federation in the wake of the "Chak
De" sting operation leading to the resignation of secretary-general
K. Jothi Kumaran, has only served to throw the game into more
turmoil.
From 1994 to 2008, K. P. S. Gill and Jothi Kumaran ruled Indian
hockey with misplaced imperiousness and autocracy reminiscent of the
Ashwini Kumar days when one man dictated the course the game would
take. Democracy was only in name with the top honchos enjoying the
benefits of authority without responsibility or accountability.
The past 14 years has seen Indian hockey slide from bad to worse.
The occasional success was merely pyrrhic in the context of the
state of affairs. But the IHF cleverly leveraged the odd victory to
project an image of glowing health if not wealth.
K. Krishnamurthy, the secretary of the Karnataka State Hockey
Association (KSHA), who is now a prime candidate to head not just
the ad hoc committee but also the new IHF administration as and when
it is installed, believes that the game lacked credible
administration.
"The finances are in a mess. There has been no long-term plan in
place. Executive committee meetings were more an exception than rule
and the selection process lacked credibility. In the process, we
invited intervention from the International Hockey Federation which
in itself reflected the sorry state of affairs in Indian hockey," he
said.
A few years ago, Krishnamurthy, who took voluntary retirement from
the Reserve Bank of India as a top-ranking officer to devote more
time to hockey, had mustered support as he sought to put Gill in the
dock over the IHF's balance sheet, but at the meeting in Hyderabad,
he was the lone voice of dissent.
At the moment, there are moves to get the affiliated units together
to chart out a plan that envisages fresh elections. "I personally do
not mind who is in power so long as they function as per the IHF
Constitution. The only way forward, I feel, is to conduct free and
fair elections," Krishnamurthy asserted.
Back in 1994, Gill got himself elected under gunpoint at the IHF
annual general meeting (AGM) in Bhopal. Money and muscle besides
Gill's reputation as the "Super Cop" persuaded the units to vote for
him. At that time, few realised the folly of having a police officer
as president. Gill virtually ran the IHF like his police precinct
with zero tolerance to even well meaning criticism.
In fact, in his very first press conference in New Delhi within a
couple of days after his election, Gill showcased his power and
authority by having two journalists abducted from the conference
venue. The matter was resolved after Gill tendered unconditional
apology to the employers of the scribes.
Meanwhile, Jothi Kumaran consolidated his position with his
deceptively low-profile style of functioning. Surrounding himself
with a coterie that barely saw beyond its collective nose, he
revelled in newfound power and position.
At the height of his power, Jothi Kumaran repeatedly interfered in
team selection and management. He was involved in the match-fixing
scandal with Malaysia during the 1996 Olympic qualifier in
Barcelona. The national coaches, who were being hired and fired
without thought, were forced to toe the line on pain of a pink slip.
The signs of rot were much in evidence in 1998 when soon after India
regained the Asian Games gold medal at Bangkok, six senior players
along with the chief coach were thrown out on the pretext of being
"rested". Four years later, coach Cedric D'Souza met a similar fate
when he was sacked midway through the World Cup.
In 2004, just before the Athens Olympics, the IHF appointed Gerhard
Rach, a German with police record as the national coach replacing
Rajinder Singh. The players were incensed and felt humiliated to
have a coach with no proven professional credentials.
Rach quit soon after the Olympics, publicly abusing the IHF
administration on his way out. Strangely, last year, the same Rach
coordinated with the same administration to sign up Indian players
for various European club teams!
Overall, the Gill-Jothi Kumaran era has been a period of
discontentment that surfaced only occasionally. The sponsorship deal
with Sahara somewhat eased the situation, but even to date, the
extent of sponsorship remains a secret. The IHF has stonewalled
queries on the subject with shocking indifference and insolence.
"We just don't know how much money was coming into the IHF coffers,
where it was going and how it was being spent. The balance sheet was
often distributed just before an AGM and few had the time or
inclination to scrutinize the accounts, leave alone ask questions,"
said Krishnamurthy.
Finally, the lid was blown off in Santiago, Chile, when in March
India failed to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in eight
decades. Coach Joaquim Carvalho, who had little love or tolerance
for Jothi Kumaran, resigned, but was asked to continue. Then came
the sting operation that has had a seismic effect on Indian hockey.
As for the future, much would hinge on the mindset of the new rulers
who would need to set aside their personal equations and work as one
cohesive unit.
This could well be wishful thinking given the track record of the
game that has been more about personalities, be it players or
officials, rather than team.
(Anand Philar is a hockey expert. He can be contacted at anandphilar@gmail.com
)
Boloji.com is owned and managed by Boloji Media Inc Privacy Policy |
Disclaimer
No part of this Internet site may
be reproduced without prior written permission of the copyright holder.
