India’s hockey elections are held on December 5 amid in-fighting, disputes over state polls

Hockey India will elect its new office bearers for 2026-2030 on December 5, with the federation officially kicking off the process. The election will be held against a backdrop of in-fighting within the federation and a growing dispute over the validity of unit polls and voting rights in several states.

As part of the election process, HI’s newly appointed Electoral Officer, Sudhir Tripathi, directed all permanent member units to nominate one man and one candidate for the electoral college of the federation by October 15. The publication of the final voter list is scheduled for November 15.

The submission of nominations will take place between November 22 and 24, and the nomination proposals will be announced on November 24.

Subsequently, any objections to the draft nominations will be reviewed before the publication of the final list of nominations on 1 December. Nominations can be downloaded the following day before the final list of participants is published on December 3rd.

If the polls are required, then they will be held on December 5 and the result will be out on the same day.

According to a Times Of India report, the move comes amid increasing scrutiny of election procedures and the makeup of electoral colleges across several state hockey associations. Documents reviewed by TOI point to complaints, election objections and calls for intervention in states including Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Gujarat and Assam.

Stakeholders raised concerns over the conduct of elections, eligibility of representatives and compliance with the National Sports Governance Act, 2025. The issue also came into focus in Odisha, where the proposed Hockey Association of Odisha elections did not take place after the election officer flagged concerns regarding documentation and administration of district units.

Subsequently, HI issued a show-cause notice to Hockey Odisha seeking a response as to why they should not be classified from permanent to associate member.

HELLO WARRIOR

The greatest attention during the whole process will be given power struggle between President HI Tirkey and General Secretary Bhola Nath Singh.

The beginning of the fighting can be traced back to the controversial change of the national team’s jersey color from blue to saffron and has been raging ever since.

Tirkey claimed that the decision to change the jersey color was taken without his knowledge or the approval of Hockey India’s executive board. He later served a notice to the CEO of the federation Cdr RK Srivastava and relieved him of all his duties with immediate effect.

Following this, Tirkey also filed a police complaint against HI officials after he was left stranded in Delhi during an official meeting when the vehicle returned to base with his personal belongings.

Tirkey also opposed the October 6 executive committee meeting as he felt major concerns were not addressed during the event.

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