Hockey bodies set for merger-12/8/10

Hockey bodies set for merger

(GOOD FOR INDIAN WOMEN HOCKEY FEDRATIONS, NOW THEY WILL BE ENTITLE OF SAME FACILITIES AND RECOGNITIONS WORLDWIDE...SO AS THEY NEED TO PERFORM AT PAR, THE WAY MEN'S TEAM PERFORMS)

12/8/10

New Delhi, Aug. 11: The K.P.S. Gill-led Indian Hockey Federation is all set to merge with the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation on Thursday to strengthen its claim for being the sole representative body for the sport in the country.

After getting re-recognition from the sports ministry, the IHF is trying to get the approval of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which considers Hockey India as the only representative for the sport.

One of the pre-requisites for getting the FIH recognition is to have a single body for both the men’s and women’s hockey. IHF and IWHF would be confirming to this norm on Thursday in a meeting here.

“We have a meeting tomorrow and we are going to merge as per the government guidelines. We have completed the formalities. We have requested for a government observer and hopefully we will get one for Thursday,” IWHF secretary Amrit Bose said.

At present, there is confusion over which body is the official representative as both HI and IHF have staked their claim. While the IHF, which has promised to comply with the sports ministry’s age and tenure-limitation guidelines, has the government’s backing, HI enjoys FIH’s support.