India finally gets the right to host 2010 hockey World Cup

Ending months of speculation, International Hockey Federation Friday (FIH) finally confirmed that the 2010 men's hockey World Cup will be held in New Delhi.

FIH had provisionally allotted the World Cup to India and also put forward some conditions to be fulfilled, regarding the progress of hockey in country, before it finally allotted the competition.

Since then the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was superseded by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) and a new ad-hoc committee was set up to look after the game.

FIH President Els van Breda Vriesman along with other members had an extensive meeting with the ad-hoc committee led by IOA president Suresh Kalmadi here Friday.

"The World Cup will be organised as a joint venture between FIH and the Indian Olympic Association and all profits will be reinvested in the project promoting Indian hockey," Vriesman told reporters here after the meeting.

"We are hopeful that the World Cup will serve as a catalyst for the sport in India and there will huge interest for the competition. The financial profits, if any, will not go into the kitty of either FIH or IOA but will be used for the development of the game in India"

Vriesman also lauded the functioning of the ad-hoc committee.

"They are doing a fantastic job. We are beginning a new chapter and we will not look at the past," she said.

FIH has also decided in principle to allot the men's Champions Trophy in 2011 and 2012 to India, subject to sponsorship and other arrangements and also to hold a women's tournament in India in the next few years.

Kalmadi said that the World Cup will serve as a test event for Commonwealth Games and it will be conducted in the same venue, National Stadium, which is being renovated for the 2010 Games.

--Indo-Asian news Serviceav/abr/jg

(333 Words)*18071746NNNN (IANS)

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