While ripples from the sexual harassment charges levied against her coach by a woman hockey player continue to spread, the fact that Indian hockey is back in the limelight for all the wrong reasons comes as no real surprise. The national game has not exactly been in the pink of health for the last couple of decades, but this latest embarrassment marks a new low, not just for hockey but also for all those associated with it — particularly in an administrative or managerial capacity. In a sense, there is a wider issue that has come to the fore — of women athletes being vulnerable or susceptible to exploitation. The Rucika Girihotra molestation case was one such story laid bare in its full horror, but other examples abound. Given the sensitivity of the matter, the government — since the two individuals involved are Sports Authority of India employees — and the hockey establishment moved quickly to show they were taking action. For his part, the coach, who has been associated with women’s hockey for over a decade, has stepped down already, vowing his innocence. While the matter looks set to play out its natural course with a five-member inquiry committee set up to investigate the veracity of the allegation submitting its 30-page report to the sports ministry and the SAI, it is clear that coach M.K. Kaushik will have nothing to do any longer with the team he has been associated with for a long period of time. In a sense, it could also be termed a demonstration of player power, as Kaushik and his wards had apparently been at odds for long, and with his exit they will now have a new face at the helm.
While this sordid drama is being played out on one stage, men’s hockey in India continues on its unhappy way. With the Delhi high court having upheld the contention of the Indian Hockey Federation that its dissolution by the Indian Olympic Association was wrong in law, the body now nominally in charge of the sport — Hockey India — appears to have no locus standi either, though it is conditionally recognised by FIH, the international body that runs the sport. Thus we have the odd scenario of one group, the IHF, conducting the senior men’s national championship but unable pick an India team as it is not recognised by the FIH; and the other group — Hockey India — stymied by the high court from running the game within the country, but authorised to select national representative teams. If it was not such a tragedy for the sport, this would almost be a comical state of affairs, but then it has been so over the years. Close to three decades ago, Indian hockey went through a very similar upheaval, with one faction supported by the FIH and another working against its interests — both groups being headed by powerful individuals. That the power struggle and India’s slide down the ladder came almost together is no coincidence: clearly, history holds no lessons for those tasked with administering the sport. The senior men’s team had a dismal World Cup not very many months ago in Delhi — India only finding a berth in the event by virtue of being the hosts — and where the focus should be on setting things right, all available energy and initiative is being squandered in internecine battles. Every sport is quick to point fingers at cricket when it comes to a share of the limelight and/or funds from the market. Maybe they should all be taking a few lessons on how to keep their own kitchens clean — or at least acting effectively when needed — which could then start to make a difference in their own fortunes. Till such a time, however, we are condemned to further unedifying spectacles as the one now on public display.