Ex-India skipper Tirkey favourite to become hockey federation president

After athletics, cricket and football, Indian hockey seems to be on course to get an ex-player as its chief.
Former national team captain Dilip Tirkey, one of the most-capped India internationals, has emerged as a frontrunner to become the president of Hockey India. The 44-year-old player-turned-politician and adminrator filed his nomination papers on Sunday for the Hockey India polls, which will be held on October 1.
Tirkey is currently the president of the Odisha hockey association and was eligible to contest the national body’s elections on that basis. A state official said Tirkey had the backing of a majority of associations and no other leading candidate had filed a nomination the time of the deadline (1 pm on Sunday). The candidatures will be officially announced on Monday.
Tirkey, too, was quoted as saying the Press Trust of India that he was confident of getting the requisite numbers to become the new president of the federation. “I have been in talks with a lot of states. The entire North-East is with me. Bengal, Assam, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura all are backing me. Besides, I have been in talks with other states like Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan and they have given a positive response. So, I am confident,” he told the news agency.

Submitted my nomination for the post of President, Hockey India with the blessings of all. I am committed to take Indian Hockey to new heights. pic.twitter.com/hvYgtshogJ
— Dilip Kumar Tirkey (@DilipTirkey) September 18, 2022
Hockey India was ordered to conduct fresh elections after a Division Bench of the Delhi High Court, in its order, noted that the posts of life president and life member were illegal and not in sync with the National Sports Code. It added that the post of CEO in the managing committee, too, was illegal while further noting that the adminrative setup of Hockey India was ‘illegally constituted’.
Consequently, the court appointed a three-member Committee of Adminrators to run the day-to-day affairs of Hockey India. The federation appealed the decision in the Supreme Court in August but the Bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and JB Pardiwala chose not to interfere with the Delhi High Court’s order, while asking the CoA to expedite the election process to ensure smooth conduct of the Men’s World Cup in January 2023.
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Earlier this month, the All India Football Federation too had to undergo a similar process following an intervention from the court and it ended with player-turned-politician Kalyan Chaubey becoming the new president. Tirkey is now in contention to lead the hockey body.
“He has the support of most of the members so, in my view, he will have no problem in becoming the next president,” said Hockey Maharashtra chief Manoj Bhore, who is one of the voters in the election. “Dilip has been a dinguished player, has led the national team, and after his playing career, has done a lot for hockey in Odisha. He is the ideal person to lead Hockey India.”
The former defender, with more than 400 appearances for India, joined Biju Janta Dal after his playing career was over and was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha. He has also been involved in running hockey in Odisha, the state that has emerged as the nerve centre of world hockey in the last eight years.
Tirkey said his focus will be to work on the grassroots and also revive the sport in areas where it was once thriving. “I would like to strengthen the grassroots programme. I will work towards identifying the reasons behind the decline of hockey in those states where it was popular and produced players, and take corrective steps and revive the game there. We will visit those places and work towards the development and promotion of hockey,” he was quoted as saying PTI.