HI offcials arrive in Pune to hold talks with players

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) vice president Antonio von Ondarza, who is also the world body-appointed observer for HI elections, has also accompanied the five-member delegation of the national federation.

Apart from Mattoo and Ondarza, the other members of the delegation who have flown to Pune to broker peace, include HI vice president Rajeev Mehta, treasurer Narinder Batra, technical director Jagbir Singh and senior official Harish Sharma.

After arriving here, the delegation went straight to meet the players at the Balewadi Sports Complex here.

The disgruntled players went on strike on Friday and stayed away from the camp for the February 28-March 13 World Cup in protest against the non-payment of their dues and incentives.

However, they reached a truce with HI on Saturday after holding a marathon meeting with the national federation officials here.

But the players retracted from their decision the very next day and decided to go on strike again, which yesterday prompted HI to issue a 24 hour ultimatum to the rebel players to return to training or face disciplinary action.