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India loses hosting rights of Champions Trophy

By The Assam Tribune

LAUSANNE, Sept 6 (PTI): India today lost the hosting rights of this year�s Champions Trophy hockey tournament, paying the price for an ongoing administrative row over the governance of the game in the country. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced that India will no longer host the 2011 Men�s Champions Trophy due to ongoing problems with the governance of hockey in the country. A replacement host for the event is expected to be named within a week.

The schedule and line-up of the 2011 Champions Trophy will be determined when the host is announced. However the event will take place during the same window of December 3-11.

With India no longer hosting the Champions Trophy, the country has been now invited to play in the Champions Challenge to be held in South Africa in November. �We regret that we have to move the Champions Trophy from India,� said FIH president Leandro Negre.

�It is difficult for the teams, the organizers and the fans. But we feel that this is the only way to maintain the integrity of our sport,� he added.

According to the IOC statutes which are followed by the FIH, there can only be one governing body for any one sport in any country with exclusive authority and responsibility to govern, organize national competitions and to enter national teams in international competitions.

In India, Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey federation (IHF) have been at loggerheads for quite some time to control the running of the game in the country. To put an end to the tussle, the Sport Ministry had formulated a compromise settlement between the warring bodies to run the same smoothly in the country.

But FIH, which recognized Hockey India (HI) as India�s governing body, raised objections on the temporary power-sharing formula and made it clear it was not acceptable to the governing body. Stating that the agreement between HI and IHF was not in compliance with the Olympic Charter and the FIH Statutes, the world body also had threatened to withdraw all international tournaments, including the Champions Trophy and Olympic qualifiers for men and women in February next year.

Dr Michael Green, two-time Olympian and Chairman of the FIH Athlete�s Committee said: �The first priority has to be the athletes, and while this was a tough decision for the FIH to make, I feel that they have ultimately made the choice that is best for the athletes involved.�

The FIH is in the final stages of reviewing bids from other nations that are willing and able within the scheduled time frame to host an event of the magnitude of the Champions Trophy.

The FIH will continue to monitor the governance structure in India and hopes that a resolution can be found before it begins to affect future events set to be held in India. The next event scheduled to be hosted in India is the Olympic Qualification Tournament in February.

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