Sports ministry gives clearance for airfare payment after India withdraw from Sultan Azlan Shah

India recently qualified for Hockey World League Round 3 after winning all their matches in the Round 2 held in New Delhi.

A few hours after Hockey India (HI) had withdrawn the Indian team from the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah tournament to be held in Ipoh, Malaysia from March 9 to 17, the sports ministry overruled SAI’s decision to not pay the airfare charges for the team.

The ministry also warned Hockey India to not overshoot its budget in the future.

The withdrawal had come after the Sports Authority of India (SAI) refused to pay for the air travel costs of the Indian team for the tour, which it usually does.

Sports secretary Pradip Kumar Deb said that the case was forwarded by SAI after they refused to pay the fare but the government has cleared it.

“We have an annual budget of Rs 5.94 crores for Hockey India, but they crossed it and we have already spent Rs 11.27 crores. So SAI didn’t clear the case and forwarded it to us. I have cleared the trip since Sultan Azlan Shah Cup is a top tournament and the team will get good exposure,” Pradip said.

“But we have warned HI that in future they should not cross the budget,” he added.

SAI’s regional director, Radhica Sreeman, said that despite HI being told to prioritise its tournament schedule within the budget, Azlan Shah was not a part of the schedule.

“HI’s schedule of events for the year did not have Azlan Shah and that was to be taken care of by the federation. In fact, HI’s secretary general Narinder Batra said that since the Azlan Shah organisers took care of board and lodging, it was passage that had to be paid and HI would foot the bill.

“Now all of a sudden, HI wanted government to bear the passage of the team. After discussions with secretary, department of sports, the trip was cleared,” she said.

Earlier in a press release, which was circulated by HI on Tuesday, the sport’s governing body said:

“The only obligation to the government for this tour was to cover airfare cost of the team, but in the sanction given by SAI, it is clearly mentioned that the government is not covering any cost. Therefore, Hockey India has been forced to withdraw its participation from the tournament. Government has always covered the airfare of the team for this tournament till date.”

PTI has quoted a source inside HI saying that the Government refused to pay the fares after HI “exceeded the budget” allotted for the tour.

“We have withdrawn the national team from the Azlan Shah Cup after the government refused to bear the to and fro airfares stating that we have exceeded the budget.

“It is an unfortunate incident as it is the SAI who has given us the go-ahead to hold the national camp for this tournament here. And now they are saying no.

“It is demoralising for the players. The government just had to bear the airfares as all other expenditures, including lodging and food during the tournament were supposed to be taken care by the local organisers,” the source was quoted by PTI.

India has won the Azlan Shah tournament 5 times in the past (1985, 1991, 1995, 2009, 2010). In the last edition in 2012, India finished 3rd.

Due to the FIH Junior World Cup scheduled to be held later this year, HI had selected a young team for the tournament under the leadership of Danish Mujtaba. Senior players like Sardar Singh and VR Raghunath were given a rest for this tournament.

The other teams participating in Sultan Azlan Shah are Pakistan, Australia, South Korea, New Zealand and hosts Malaysia.

Recently, Hockey India had signed a multi-crore deal with energy exploration giants Cairn India.

The team is undergoing a preparatory camp in New Delhi currently.