The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Nimbus Sports, the organisers of the league scheduled to kick off on Dec 17, are conscious of the fact that the Indian players have already expressed their desire to take part in the camp for the Olympic qualifiers in Bangalore starting on Sunday.
The top players have in two signed letters communicated to Hockey India (HI) that they would be at the camp. India captain Bharat Chetri told IANS on Tuesday that the players prefer the league to be held after the Olympic qualifiers. The IHF after a meeting with the sports ministry decided to firm up its mind by Saturday. “We will decide on the future course of action by tomorrow,” a top official of the organising committee, not wanting to be named, told IANS.
“The international players and the coaches have started arriving and will go ahead with the camp. But we want our players to play in the league as well. We have spoken to some of the players. We care for them and do not want to create a problem for them. We know how HI made them to sign letters,” he said.
The orgainsers will have to find a new slot if they postpone the event. The series was to be telecast on Neo Sports. “We have to see if it is possible to reschedule the event.”
The first indication of oraginsers agreeing to postpone the league came when they told the Delhi High Court that they are open to schedule it after the Olympic qualifiers provided HI gives them an undertaking that it will not put any more hurdles in the players’ participation.
The court reserved its judgment on the PIL against HI, filed by former India coach Joachim Carvalho, after counsel for Nimbus Sports told a division bench that in order to end the impasse, the organisers were willing to reschedule the tournament to March provided HI gives an undertaking that it would not raise any objections to players participating in the league.
