Following the midterm resignation of India’s Narinder Batra from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) leadership, whose replacement leader will be chosen on Saturday (5 November) through an online Congress, the struggle for control of international hockey has evolved into a full-blown Euro-Asia clash.
Europe is trying to come together to support former Belgian captain Marc Coudron in his fight with the Chief Executive Officer of the Asian Hockey Federation, Macau’s Pakistan-born Mohammad Tayyab Ikram, a current member of the FIH Executive Board. Europe is uneasy after losing control for the first time in FIH history in 2016.
The departure of Batra, who in 2016 became the first non-European to lead the global hockey federation with the overwhelming backing of African and Pan-American hockey associations who aspired to break one continent’s hegemony, has compelled the FIH to organize elections for a two-year Presidentship.
The FIH President’s term lasts typically for four years, but the newly chosen leader will take office for the final year of the previous term before new elections are held in the Olympic year of 2024.
Europe’s dominance over hockey
The governance of international hockey has been dominated by Europe since the FIH’s founding, and there has always been a simmering tension between Asia and Europe. The government was always firmly in the hands of European officials, even though Pakistan and India were two of the biggest competitors on the international stage.
Even the game’s rules changes, which the Asians frequently lamented were perceived as favoring the Europeans, were seen as unfair by them. After West Germany won the 1972 Olympic gold medal in Munich, Asia’s dominance on the field began to wane.
This was the first time since 1920 that a team from outside the subcontinent had won the Olympic gold medal in hockey, and it came before India made its international debut at the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam.
Batra’s departure will mark the first time since 2014 when he was elected to the FIH Executive Board for the first time before rising to become President two years later, that India won’t have a representative on the board.
There are 10 candidates vying for four slots on the Executive Board, however, no Indian candidates have submitted nominations. If Ikram, a current executive board member, is chosen to lead the FIH, there will be five slots on the Executive Board instead of the existing four.
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