Carvalho

New Delhi: India may miss out on hosting the 2010 hockey World Cup if the world body (FIH) is not satisfied with the steps taken to revive the game in the country.

The FIH has provisionally allotted the mega event to New Delhi, but the executive board will decide in its meetings, starting in Lausanne on March 25, whether to confirm the proposal.

“The FIH executive board will discuss further steps to be taken on continuing the project ‘Promoting Indian Hockey’ and on the decision on the staging of the 2010 men’s World Cup in New Delhi,” Els van Breda Vriesman, president of the world body, said in a statement.

She indicated that the hosting rights for the 2010 World Cup were subject to the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) getting its act together and showing some initiative in putting the game back on the track in the country.

“It has been made clear that the staging of the 2010 World Cup is related to the success of the project and the world body is still waiting for signs that things are really going to happen in India,” Vriesman said.

“The result (in Chile) shows that Indian hockey needs to implement the operational plans which have been provided nearly a year ago as part of the project ‘Promoting Indian Hockey’ without further delay.

“In these plans, Ric Charlesworth was going to play an instrumental role for a more structural development of Indian hockey in the long term, while he can also be of great assistance in the short term with the help of the Indian ministry of sports and the Indian Hockey Federation,” the FIH boss said.

“The project, supported by the FIH, the International Olympic Committee and the Indian Olympic Association, should be taken seriously to achieve progress in the identified areas of concern,” she added.

Meanwhile, India’s chief hockey coach Joaquim Carvalho on Wednesday said there was no need to make drastic changes in the team “to cover up the loss”, despite India’s failure to qualify for the Olympics for the first time in 80 years.

“As of now I don’t think there should be any drastic changes made to the team. I can’t suggest any structural changes, but I can only do so as far as team building is concerned,” he said, after the team landed in Mumbai Wednesday morning.

Carvalho, who has decided to step down as coach following the debacle, said he will submit his report to the IHF president K.P.S. Gill soon.

Speaking on the controversy regarding consultant Charlesworth not traveling to Chile reportedly at his behest, Carvalho said that he was not the authority to decide.

“I don’t know who has not allowed Charlesworth to go to Chile. I am not the authority to not allow him to visit Chile,” he said.

Carvalho expressed his disappointment over the umpiring in the final game and said that he would take up the matter with IHF.

“We played with ten players for 25 minutes and got warning cards. The umpires reprimanded even those players who did not get a card. They were issued letters and players were summoned from their hotel rooms after the matches at late hours and were kept waiting for more than an hour by the umpires,” he added.

However top umpires laughed off Carvalho’s excuse, saying the erring players deserved to be punished.

“I was shocked to hear Carvalho blaming poor umpiring for the team’s defeat. It is incorrect. The two yellow cards in the final to Sardara Singh and Prabhjot Singh were correctly given,” Kukoo Walia, an umpires’ manager of the IHF,said.

FIH world panel umpire Satinder Kumar, who had officiated in 99 international matches, said the country ultimately suffered because of the erring players. (Pti)