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Hockey India Issues Show-Cause Notice to Odisha Association, Proposes Membership Downgrade
Allegations of irregularities in elections: Hockey India has issued a show-cause notice to the Hockey Association of Odisha for allegedly not following the national federation's bylaws. The federation has proposed upgrading the association's permanent membership to associate membership.
Hockey India has served a show cause notice to the Hockey Association of Odisha (HAO). In view of the non-compliance with the federation’s by-laws, Hockey India has suggested that HAO’s status of permanent membership be revised to associate membership. This was decided upon by the Executive Committee of Hockey India at its meeting held on October 6th. Earlier, the elections which were due to be held by HAO on October 3rd had been deferred because of a bad report from the Election Officer.
There are eight objections raised against the HAO in total and some of the most serious objections pertain to the functioning of the 30 district units in Odisha. The main objection pertains to the fact that the positions of president and secretary in the 30 district associations are being held by ex-officio appointments to district magistrates and sub-collectors rather than elected members.
Hockey India also stated that none of the district units submitted documents such as election notices, meeting minutes, or election results. Consequently, it could not be proven that the governing committees of these district units were formed through a valid election process.
