HI paid Rs 5 crore extra to FIH, claims Gill

MUMBAI: While the continuing tussle between the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Hockey India (HI) has become a way of life for hockey lovers, the surprising part in this whole episode has been the stand taken by the game's Lausanne-based world body (FIH).
The FIH has been steadfastly backing Hockey India, despite a Delhi High Court ruling and a government notification to the contrary.After the court ruled that IHF is the sole governing body of the game in the country, the sports ministry too withdrew its conditional recognition to HI. Yet, the FIH continues to recognize HI as the 'official' body in India, despite its current 'private' status.
On Wednesday, when former IHF chief KPS Gill was asked the reason behind the FIH's pro-HI stance, he made an interesting revelation.
"When the IHF signed the Memorandum of Understanding with the FIH for hosting the 2010 World Cup in Delhi, the fee that was agreed upon to get the hosting rights (to be paid to the FIH) was Rs 2.5 crore. But the amount that was paid to FIH by Hockey India was Rs 7.5 crore! This was revealed by (current HI secretary general) Narender Batra himself at a meeting three months ago. How and when this extra Rs 5 crore changed hands is something to be investigated. It's now up to you to guess why FIH likes Hockey India so much," Gill, who is now an IHF advisor, said.
"I now plan to file an FIR to find out by which route Rs 7.5 crore went out of the country. I do not know whether it was through the RBI or the hawala route," added Gill.
The former top cop said he tried to use the RTI Act to get details on the amount spent on hosting last year's World Cup, but couldn't get any as he was told that the event was hosted by a separate body which didn't come under the RTI's ambit. "Batra revealed in the same meeting (held on March 1 in Delhi) that neither Hockey India nor the Indian Olympic Association conducted the World Cup. He said it was conducted by the 'Organizing Committee of Hero Honda-FIH World Cup', headed by Suresh Kalmadi (former IOA chief)," Gill said.
Gill, however, said IHF was willing to go the extra mile to sort out the differences with HI and function as one united body. "We are willing to go more than half way to sort out the differences. But thanks to the FIH's support, Batra is unwilling to come to the negotiation table. We can't do much about it. We can only compromise, we can't surrender," Gill claimed.
IHF president RK Shetty, who was also present at the media conference, said decks have been cleared for the proposed World Series Hockey (WSH) following the Delhi High Court's favourable verdict earlier this week. "We would be giving the details about the dates, venues and players taking part in WSH in four to six weeks' time. I don't think FIH will prevent players from playing in it as it's for the promotion of hockey," he said.
Shetty also said that IHF will not prevent players from taking part in any tournament even if it was held under the aegis of Hockey India. "I have been a player myself and don't want the players to suffer for no fault of theirs," he added.