IHF discusses FIH report

Chennai, Jan 5 (UNI) Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) President K P S Gill, Secretary K Jothikumaran and other officials have discussed on the project report by Bob Davidzon of Netherlands for FIH, on the improvement of hockey in the country.

According to Mr Jothikumaran, there would be more discussions on the project report with those who have high stakes in the game of hockey in the country like the affiliated associations, IWHF, coaches and others.

''We will have further discussions on the report and then consolidate it and will submit it later,'' he said.

Mr Jothikumaran said there is a lot of misunderstanding about the report. ''It's actually a project by the International Olympic Committee. The report has suggested improvement in 14 areas, which we also have a fair idea. There are some areas which he (David) may not understand because the conditions in India and Netherlands are different.

The IHF Secretary said the situation in India and Netherlands could not be compared. ''As we all know we have lots of constraints.

Take the case of Astro turfs, we do not have enough. But we are trying to have more surfaces''.

He said the project report had created a lot of confusion also.

We received the report and had written to the FIH that we were considering it. We had informed them that the IHF officials were busy with the Doha Asian Games and later with the conduct of the Premier Hockey League (PHL).

''Further you cannot take a hasty discussion on that report. It needs to discussed in detail. We cannot take decision within a day or within a week. All these we have informed them in writing'', he added.

Mr Jothikumaran said the FIH is only one of the parties involved in the project. ''First of all it's a project by the International Olympic Committee. Then the IHF, Indian Olympic Association and the FIH are involved.'' Mr Jothikumaran said he was surprised to see the use of words such as 'reminder' and 'scanner' as reported by the media. ''IHF's position is very clear on the subject. We have replied them also.

And we have made it clear that we will discuss it with all those who have stakes in the game, he added.

UNI