Hockey India will elect its new office-bearers for the 2026-2030 term on December 5, with the federation officially kicking off the process. The elections will be held against the backdrop of the infighting going on within the federation and growing dispute over the validity of the member-unit polls and voting rights across several states.
As part of the election process, newly-appointed HI electoral officer, Sudhir Tripathi, has directed all permanent member units to put forward one male and one female nominee for the federation’s electoral college by October 15. The publication of the final electoral roll has been set for November 15.
The filing of the nominations will take place between November 22 to 24, with the draft nominations being announced on November 24.
Following this, objections, if any, to the draft nominations will be reviewed before the final nominations list will be announced on December 1. The withdrawal of nominations will be possible on the following day, before the final list of the participants will be announced on December 3.
If the polls are necessary, then they will take place on December 5 and the result will come out on the same day.
The move comes amid growing scrutiny of electoral procedures and the composition of electoral colleges across several state hockey associations, according to a report from Times Of India. Documents reviewed by TOI point to complaints, objections to elections and appeals for intervention in states including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam.
Stakeholders have raised concerns over the conduct of elections, the eligibility of representatives and adherence to the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The issue has also come into focus in Odisha, where the proposed Hockey Association of Odisha elections did not take place after the electoral officer flagged concerns regarding district-unit documentation and governance.
Subsequently, HI issued a show-cause notice to Hockey Odisha, asking for a response as to why they shouldn’t be classified from a permanent to an associate member.
HI INFIGHTING
The biggest focus during the whole process will be the power struggle between HI president Tirkey and secretary general Bhola Nath Singh.
The start of the infighting can be traced back to the controversial jersey colour change of the national team from blue to saffron and has raged on since then.
Tirkey maintained that the decision to change the jersey colour had been taken without his knowledge or the Hockey India Executive Board’s consent. He later served a show-cause notice on the federation’s Director General, Cdr R K Srivastava, and removed him from all his responsibilities with immediate effect.
Following this, Tirkey also lodged a police complaint against HI officials after he was left stranded in Delhi during an official as the vehicle provided him returned to base with his personal belongings.
Tirkey also opposed the October 6 executive committee meeting as he felt that the major concerns weren’t being addressed during the event.
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