Hockey India rubbishes claim of divide within federation

Hockey India has rubbished the claims of divide between President Dilip Tirkey and Secretary Bhola Nath Singh by releasing a joint statement on Wednesday.

This comes one day after resignation of Elena Norman, the long serving CEO of Hockey India.

Elena in a statement claimed that she was tired of difficult working environment in the federation.

She also said that there are two factions in the federation at the moment with Dilip Tirkey at one side and Bhola Nath Singh on the other side.

"Hockey India is an autonomous and professional body dedicated to the development of Indian Hockey. Our primary objective as an organisation has been and continues to remain the welfare and progress of the sport of Hockey and our athletes," the press release said.

"Recently there have been statements by outgoing officials published in the media, claiming that there are divisions within the organization. This is not correct. We remain united in working together, and as always in the best interest of the sport," the letter jointly signed by Dilip and Bhola said.

Indian women's team coach Janneke Schopman also resigned last week citing difficult work environment and discrimination between teams.

"The Federation has treated the teams and all players equally with equal benefits and training facilities, including cash awards and monetary recognition that is at-par and is purely based on performance. We have built our ethos around equity and equal opportunities right from the grassroots levels across states as well as on a national level," the press release said.

The release also stated that there will be a rebuild in the women's team with a fresh approach.

Last few months have been tumultuous for the Indian hockey with women's team failing to qualify for the 2024 Olympics and issues at the administrative level coming up with top brass of Hockey India involved in it.