A project that never took off

Why? All that the IHF bosses have done about the project is hold one meeting in the last two years, and that too on January 30 , 2008.

Karnataka Hockey Association secretary, Kannan Krishnamoorthy, who was a part of the Task Force committee, says, 8220;Things were supposed to be happening for two years but the IHF woke up only on January 30, 2008 to conduct the first meeting regarding the project. And even then, only the departments were allotted to the members.8221;

The members are still waiting for a second meeting even though the FIH8217;s March 2008 deadline is just around the corner.

The guidelines

In his report, Bob Davidzon, who was appointed as head of the project and had toured the country at that time, had pointed out certain areas of concern. Some of his guidelines were:

8226; Finance: Attracting sponsors and gaining their confidence to raise money

8226; Synthetic pitches: With the total number of astro turfs amounting not more than 30 in the country, the need to increase their number and maintain them

8226; Marketing: As of now the IHF is run by the two bigwigs KPS Gill and K Jothikumaran, but the FIH wanted a lot of specific committees

8226; National-level tournaments: The PHL apart, there were hardly any other national tournaments and they had no IHF selectors monitoring them. Also, there was a need to attract more spectators and make the events popular

8226; National team: Better treatment of the players

8226; Communication: More transparent interaction with the media and the development of a website

Bhopal Hockey Association secretary, I Rehman is not even aware of any guidelines of the project. 8220;I was not invited for the meeting,8221; he says. The Bombay association secretary, Keher Singh, has a similar grievance.

Krishnamoorthy adds, 8220;When we saw Davidzon8217;s agenda, all the members came to the conclusion that it was not achievable in such a short period and so it was subjected to changes which Davidzon had agreed to.8221;

Far behind the world

But with just paperwork and no execution, Punjab association secretary, Surendra Singh Sodhi, might sound philosophical when he says, 8220;Development does not happen in one day. If China are ready for the Olympics today, it has not happened in a month8217;s time. They have planned and worked for years8221;.

Australia8217;s Ric Charlesworth, who took charge as technical advisor to the IHF, says he always knew he had a tough task ahead as he was a foreigner barging into a territory were the Indians were masters at one point of time. 8220;When we look at the world standards today, the Indian team8217;s performances leaves a lot to be desired,8221; Charlesworth says.

8220;But it8217;s not in the Indian tradition to make long-term plans. Though I8217;ve been here only for a short period of time, I can say that the project has failed and even the treatment of players has remained unchanged. The standard of the tournaments and facilities definitely need to improve a lot. All the competitors have moved up whereas India has more or less remained stagnant,8221; he says.

Last November in Delhi, it was K Jothikumaran, who presented India8217;s bid to host the 2010 World Cup. And now that the guidelines are not met, head honcho Gill is finally getting serious flak from several quarters but the secretary has still been spared.

Jothikumaran was unavailable for comment.