Hockey legends protest in New Delhi, demanding an overhaul of the national body

The Asian Games entered the sixth day of action on Friday, September 25, with India chasing medals and looking to add to their growing tally. Between the medals and historic moments in Nagoya, hockey may have taken a backseat to the bigger picture of the Asian Games, but the sport remained firmly in the spotlight.

On the field, the Indian women’s hockey team continued their impressive run, beat home Japan 3:1. Unlike some of their earlier outings, India had to grind out the result but did enough to maintain their unbeaten start. With progress to the semi-finals now in sight, the team remains firmly in contention for a medal.

At home, however, the picture was much less rosy.

The ongoing power struggle within Hockey India threatened to overshadow the team’s performance on the field. The acrimonious spat between HI president Dilip Tirkey and general secretary Bhola Nath Singh has dominated the sport’s headlines, with the dispute taking turns several times in recent weeks.

Simmering discontent erupted on Friday as former Indian captains and hockey legends staged a protest outside the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium. Their message was clear: Hockey India needs a cleanup. Hockey legends have called for a major reform of hockey India (Credit: India Today photo)

What started as a row over a jersey change before the World Cup of Hockey soon escalated. Tirkey later dismissed CEO RK Srivastava and reminded Bhola Nath of his authority within the federation.

The situation took another turn when The President of Hockey India filed a police complaint against Srivastava and other federation officials, alleging “criminal breach of trust, theft, endangerment of life and wrongful abandonment.”

It was a turning point for hockey legends Pramod Batlaw, Ashok Diwan, Romeo James and Asunta Lakra.

They believed that the sport needed a reset and that change had to start within the federation itself. At the heart of their demand was a greater role for former players in decision-making and an end to what they described as the growing influence of non-hockey personnel.

WHAT DID THE LEGENDS DEMAND?

The protest was held outside the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in Delhi, a venue named after the man who helped define Indian hockey on the world stage.

In Friday’s hot and humid conditions, the legends arrived together, carrying banners and making their presence felt without much fanfare. They were not allowed to enter the stadium and instead gathered outside the venue to present their demands.

Security personnel repeatedly asked them to identify themselves. Asunta Lakra replied: “Such is the state of our sport that we have to say who we are, despite being former captains and legends.”

Among the banners they carried, one stood out: “Hokej ka ABCD pata nahi, ban gaya Secretary (I don’t know anything about hockey, but he became a secretary.)”

The report was directed at Indian Secretary Bhola Nath, whose alleged harassment and intimidation of Lakra proved to be one of the flashpoints of a wider row within the federation.

The legends’ broader demands were made in a memorandum addressed to Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya, a copy of which was made available by India Today.

In a memorandum, the former players raised concerns over alleged governance failures and non-compliance with Hockey India’s National Sports Development Code 2025.

They called for the dissolution of the existing executive committee and the appointment of an ad hoc committee comprising former Indian players and Olympians, along with a former judge or legal expert and representatives of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and the Sports Authority of India as observers. The proposed committee would oversee the affairs of the federation and conduct new elections within six months.

The former players also demanded strict implementation of the Sports Code, including age and performance limits, mandatory 25 percent athlete representation on the executive body, annual compliance and recognition requirements, and elections managed by an independent electoral officer.

They also urged the ministry to look into what it described as circumvention of deliberative rules where officials move between different national sports federations. Their demand was that the cooling-off period should apply to all NSFs and prevent officials who have completed their permitted tenure in one federation from taking office in another during that period.

The memorandum further urged the ministry to make the recognition and funding of Hockey India conditional on full compliance with the Sports Code.

If accepted, the demands would significantly change the existing power structure within Hockey India.

For Batlaw, the argument is clear: ex-players and internationals understand the sport and should play a bigger role in running it.

“Teachers teach in college. Engineers run industry. Referees run courts. How can non-hockeys run hockey? The vision is not there. Hockey is going down, killing. We are eighth or ninth in the World Cup. Asian hockey is not the best, so becoming the winner of the Asian Games means nothing.”

“So what we’re saying is, the hockey players, the veterans, bring them in. Give them the vision. Let them run the hockey. Take the vision only from them, then hockey can run,” Batlaw said.

The legends look beyond Delhi. Batlaw said the movement could spread to the states if their demands are not addressed.

“Now we’re going to start doing in the states. Statewide canvassing. We’re going to do a statewide canvass and send a message and get it up because now we want hockey to come.”

TRUST IN TURKEY

One of the biggest questions surrounding the proposed overhaul is where Dilip Tirkey will fit in.

If an ad hoc committee is appointed, Tirkey would lose his current position as president of Hockey India. However, the legends have made it clear that their support for the former Indian captain remains intact.

Since Tirkey took charge, the men’s team has won a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics and lifted the Asian Cup in 2025. The legends want him to return in a fair election and believe his long-term vision can still play a role in Indian hockey.

“We are with Dilip Tirkey. He is a hockey player and an Olympian. He is a Padma Shri. We will always be with him. He cannot do a bad job. We take a guarantee for that,” Diwan said.

“We want to meet him back here and then we want to see his vision again, what we’re talking about. He had to act like … simple. If you act like that, hockey will get better,” Batlaw said.

ENDING DISRESPECT

For the legends, the dispute is not only about status and power. They also want an end to what they describe as disrespect for former players.

Bhola Nath’s alleged comments towards Lakra have become a particularly sensitive issue, with the former India captain saying the threat she received should be seen as a warning to players across the country.

“It was she to whom Bholanath said, ‘We will show you your place’.” He is not supposed to talk to her because she is the former hockey captain of the Indian team.

“So what is it? Bholanath is the secretary and he says I’ll show you your place and he threatened her,” James said.

Lakra, who has been at the heart of the dispute, believes the problem goes beyond her. She said the alleged threat had effectively targeted players, past and present, and that safeguards needed to be put in place to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

“It’s very, very sad for me. Not just for me, but for all the players in India. I was threatened through an individual WhatsApp call, but I believe it’s a threat to all the players in India. I feel that we should pay some attention to these things so that things like this don’t happen to other players in the future, especially women, because we’re seeing and hearing things back to back.”

“This should not happen. It should stop. So on that basis I would like to say it should stop and Indian hockey should be brought to a higher level,” Lakra said.

The former India captain is also awaiting the outcome of the investigation into her complaint against Bhola Nath and believes the process could shed some light.

“When the commission formed the committee and announced it, I felt that yes, the complaint I filed is being worked on and given special attention. I hope we will see the result soon. That is my hope,” Lakra said.

As the legends slowly dispersed from outside the iconic stadium, there wasn’t much confusion about what they wanted next.

For them, the protest was not about the Asian Games team, its players or its performances. It was about who would shape the future of Indian hockey.

And Batlaw’s final message to the current power structure was straightforward.

“He’s got to go. Simple. He’s got to go,” Batlaw said.

– The end