Hockey India affiliation tangle irks Gill

New Delhi:

Irked at the affiliation tangle of Hockey India, Sports Minister MS Gill on Sunday advised the warring parties to bury their hatchet and elect a democratic federation which would be acceptable to the country.

Reacting to Hockey Punjab's (HP) allegation that Indian Olympic Association has denied affiliation to HP as part of a conspiracy, Gill said all he wanted was a fair and transparent election and the newly-elected HI office-bearers should be acceptable to the whole country.

"Our policy remains the same. We had committed to International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre to put in place a properly elected Hockey India governing body and the election process has to be clear, transparent and acceptable to the whole of India," Gill said.

"Now how it can be that Punjab, which is the heart of Indian hockey, would not be part of any process to uplift the game in the country?" he asked.

"I would go to the extent of saying that Jharkhand contributes nearly as much as Punjab. Then you have major hockey playing states like Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu. How come they are not there," he said.