Indian hockey team may not participate in Commonwealth Games and Asian Games!

Commonwealth Games increasingly appearing like a long shot

There is a distinct possibility that Indian hockey fans would not get to see their beloved team in action as Hockey India has threatened to pull the men’s and women’s teams out of the Commonwealth and Asian games citing fund allocation issues with the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

Hockey India (HI) general secretary Narinder Batra said "SAI in a letter has informed us only Rs 31 lakh is left for hockey up to March 31, 2015 and we have CWG, Asian Games and Champions Trophy in India. We had given SAI a budget of Rs 38 crore for 2014-15, but they allocated Rs 10 crore for hockey out of which we have already spent Rs 9.69 crore from April till June this year,"

"Rs 31 lakh is not sufficient to send teams to CWG and Asian Games. Last year, Rs 24 crore was allocated. If the government doesn't allocate additional funds, we will be forced to withdraw our teams. How can I send teams for three major events and organise camps with just Rs 31 lakh? The ball is in government's court. Let them take a call."

However commenting on the issue, SAI Director General Jiji Thomson played down the boycott talks of HI and assured it will be sorted once the Union budget is presented on July 10.

"It is true that HI was allocated Rs. 10 crore and since they have spent more than Rs 9 crore, it was my duty to tell them that they have Rs 31 lakh remaining under ACTC 2014-15. But, I am sure this hockey issue will be sorted out after the Union budget,"

"We have been given Rs 155 crore only by the government this year, just a marginal increase of Rs 5 crore from last year and so there was this fund constraint. Now, we are working on the basis of money allocated on vote of account. Once the full budget is presented on July 10, we are hoping to get more money from the government, at least 40 crore more. Once that is done, we will allocate additional money for hockey. There's no need to worry.” Thomson said.

The Indian team is scheduled to play three major tournaments this year starting with the Commonwealth Games from July 23rd to August 3rd in Glasgow. The Asian Games is slated to begin on September 19 in Incheon, South Korea and the FIH Men’s Champions Trophy will be held in Bhubaneshwar in December.

Update: The controversy has now been resolved, and India’s hockey team will indeed be participating in the Glasgow Games.