Supreme Court dismisses plea to consider hockey as India's national game

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Bengaluru, September 8: Amidst the euphoria over Indian hockey team's success at Tokyo 2020, t he Supreme Court of India has dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by lawyer Vishal Tiwari seeking directions to recognise its as the National Sport of India.

It may be recalled that at Tokyo 2020, the Indian men's hockey team won the bronze medal, its first podium since 1980 Moscow Olympics, while the women's team missed bronze by a whisker and finished fourth.

The decision was taken by the apex court's bench headed by Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, and also chaired Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Bela M Trivedi.

Despite the court dismissing the petition, the bench expressed their agreement and sympathy with the petitioner but also noted that they cannot issue direct orders to the government in this regard.

The petition recognized the fact that despite India being one of the greatest dominators of the game, it was not able to receive any Olympic accolade for more than 40 years.

Meanwhile, the much-awaited Hockey India domestic season is scheduled to resume in October this year after the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic halted the national calendar in March due to the second wave.

While recommencing the domestic calendar following the euphoric success of the Indian Men and Women's Hockey Teams at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 has been a top priority for Hockey India, the Federation has instructed the host State Member Units and participating teams to take strict precautions and enforce all the covid protocols established by Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and respective state governments, as well as Hockey India's robust guidelines to host domestic events.

The season will recommence with the 1st Hockey India Sub Junior Men Academy National Championship 2021 will be held in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. This tournament will be held from 4 October to 13 October 2021.

Expressing excitement over the resumption of the Hockey India National Championships, President Gyanendro Ningombam stated, "There is a lot of euphoria following the success of Indian Men and Women's Hockey Teams at the Tokyo Olympics and we wanted to ensure this excitement translates into the playing field. With this intent, we announce the resumption of the Hockey India domestic calendar. We had to halt abruptly in March this year due to the rise in cases across the country but with things looking up on the covid front, we felt it is safe to resume under covid guidelines."