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Transparency & accountability in sports governance


When last year mr. Batra got re-elected as the FIH president I wrote “We deserve better” with an open letter to the administrators of our sport. In it I wanted to make two points:

  1. The number 1 priority is getting more people to PLAY the sport, not WATCH the sport.
  2. Transparency & accountability in governing our sport need to improve.

Recently the FIH president, mr Batra, announced he would not seek re-election as the president for the IOA, which is the national Olympic association of India. He claimed this was because hockey was entering a time with lots of challenges and it needed his full attention. What he forgot to mention was, he was convicted of malpractice as a sports administrator by the High Court of Delhi for several acts that do not pass the bar when it comes to good governance. In case you want to read the full judgment, click here. So far Batra has not live up to promises made (revenue for FIH will go up) or broken other promises he made hockey (I never try to go for IOA presidency). Clearly the general assembly of NA’s did not hold him accountable last year. Maybe the executive board of the FIH will do it this year? I’m not holding my breath though…

2 columns that are a must read

If you’re only interested in the latest results of the team you root for or want to see exciting tricks with stick and ball. This might not be your cup of tea. If you care about the future of our game though you might want to read two recent columns from Australian journalist Ashley Morrison:

If you’re a sports administrator at a club, a national or continental association I think you ought to read these and ask your fellow administrators to do the right thing. And please remember the two points that are near to at least my heart:

  1. The number 1 priority is getting more people to PLAY the sport, not WATCH the sport.
  2. Transparency & accountability in governing our sport need to improve.

It’s never too late to do the right thing…

We’ve run our sport as well-meaning amateurs for a long time. Times have changed. Too many NA’s (that’s national associations) and their administrators are now in it for themselves instead of the sport they should represent. If you only spend Olympic and government funding on your administration and national teams you’re doing your sport a disservice. Setting up or attending international events and “growing your fanbase” is a means to an end, not the end goal.

If you can not demonstrate you are growing the number of active and registered players in a sustainable way, you’re doing it wrong ⚠️

It’s never too late to do the right thing…

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