MHA in a spot over stadium for HIL

The state government has sought the use of the Mumbai Hockey Association’s (MHA)  in Churchgate for the upcoming Hockey India League (HIL), which has put the local body in a quandary.

The MHA is an affiliate of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and has already committed to hosting the World Series Hockey (WSH), which is a eight-city tournament jointly organised by the IHF and Nimbus. Hockey India is IHF’s rival body and the dates of both the leagues overlap, meaning MHA cannot play host to both the leagues.

“We have already agreed to give our ground for the conduct of the World Series Hockey. We have now received a letter from the DSO (District Sports Officer) of Maharashtra government asking us not to give our ground to anyone else for holding matches of Hockey India League,” MHA secretary Ram Singh Rathor said.

WSH is scheduled from December 15 to January 23 while HIL, sanctioned by the International Hockey Federation, is planned from January 6. “We are and will remain with the IHF, but we do not want our players to suffer. We want them to play in all tournaments. That’s also the instruction we have received from IHF president RK Shetty and KPS Gill (former IHF president) who know our concerns,” said Rathor. “We have already written back to DSO that its stadium has been allotted to WSH from December 1 to January 25.”

Hockey India officials said they are waiting for the ground issue to be solved before deciding whether Mumbai will be one of the six host cities of the league.

MHL from today
The Mumbai Hockey League will begin on Sunday at the MHA Stadium in Churchgate. The MHA also plans to revive the Bombay Gold Cup and Guru Tegh Bahadur tournaments, the association’s secretary Rathor said.