Bhola Nath Singh leaps across wrestling pit to Hockey India as secretary-general

Wrestling coach Bhola Nath Singh has completed an enigmatic journey from Jharkhand’s grappling sandpits to take charge of Hockey India (HI) as its secretary-general.

Ex-wrestler Bhola Nath’s elevation as the key official in the new team to seize control of the hockey federation comes after elections — conducted under purview of the Delhi High Court- appointed Committee of Administrators (CoA) — provided a unanimously elected team of officials headed by Olympian Dilip Tirkey, who became the first international player to head the national body.

Less than a month ago, Jharkhand Wrestling Association’s president Bhola Nath was hobnobbing with colleagues to put together a new set of officials for the state wrestling body. This was when the CoA was in charge of Hockey India and the election process was getting underway. His plans changed drastically after a couple of phone calls to his mentors in Hockey India, where the displaced team of officials was trying to claw its way back to power in the federation.

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Bhola Nath himself was a vice-president in the last team at Hockey India as his term was cut short by an adverse verdict of the Delhi High Court that frowned upon the federation’s constitution giving a voting presence in the Executive Committee to a former president and an employee who was the chief executive officer.

Besides being a vice-president at HI and president of Hockey Jharkhand, the Jharkhand Wrestling president was also one of the vice-presidents at the Wrestling Federation of India, which in the past even nominated him as manager of the Indian contingent at some international championships. He was adroitly juggling his assignments as a wrestling coach and sports official.

Once his modest wrestling career was over, Bhola Nath aspired to produce some fine wrestlers and took the National Institute of Sports route to become a qualified coach. This not only provided him a job with the State Sports Council but also a passage to establish close contacts with sports officials in his state and national associations.

With its rich legacy of producing top hockey players, it was odd that Jharkhand state’s hockey association was headed by one who was both a wrestling coach and a key wrestling official. The story goes back to the formation of Hockey India under the umbrella of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) which wanted to snap its links with the erstwhile Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).

Several officials and businessmen from other sports, who were close to IOA bosses, jumped onto the new bandwagon because a majority of existing state associations remained loyal to IHF.

Close ally to Narinder Batra The wrestling coach with an infectious smile, Bhola Nath owes his elevation at Hockey India to his loyalty toward former Hockey India boss Narinder Batra, on whose behalf Bhola Nath took up a public spat with officials of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) in a long-drawn rift that ended with Batra’s resignation as head of the national Olympic body.

India’s sporting fraternity was entertained by a publicised exchange of emails between IOA secretary-general Rajeev Mehta and Bhola Nath. A most enthralling comment of Bhola Nath to Mehta in one of his emails said he (Bhola Nath) too had found someone to draft his letters in English similar to what Mehta had done, so now this was a contest of equals.

Although Batra is maintaining a distance from Hockey India’s headquarters down the road from his personal office on the highway from New Delhi to the satellite town of Faridabad, his team of officials is now back at the helm at Hockey India.

Dilip Tirkey expected to act independently The federation will be headed by former Indian hockey team captain Dilip Tirkey, whose election is also to strengthen the association with Odisha, the State whose sponsorship had bankrolled Hockey India and won bids to stage two successive men’s World Cups. Tirkey, of course, owes no allegiance to any group of officials and is expected to act independently.

After playing hosts to the 2018 World Cup in the state’s capital, Odisha will now stage a 16-team World Cup in two cities — Bhubaneswar and Rourkela in January 2023. The right to stage the second consecutive World Cup was clinched when the Odisha-backed bid by Hockey India trumped the rivals by offering millions more than what the FIH had imagined.

Bhola Nath put in his paper as WFI’s vice president Getting an inkling that Bhola Nath could be occupying one of the country’s most significant positions as a sports official, the official quickly changed tracks and presided over an election of a new set of officials – minus himself – at the Jharkhand Wrestling Association. To Bhola Nath, this was like cutting the umbilical cord as he had earlier put in his papers as vice president of the Wrestling Federation of India. Yet, he was excited at getting his moment in the spotlight.

Setting his sights high, this wrestling coach went for the jugular and filed nominations for the president’s position. The secretary-general’s nomination was his backup plan, which Bhola Nath was glad to have retained since Tirkey soon entered the President‘s contest and became the unanimous choice.

Lest there be a mistake in his nominations papers, Bhola Nath filed two sets of nominations each for the post of president and secretary-general; making doubly sure that he did not miss out the chance to typographical error or if any of his nomination-endorsers were ruled ineligible in the scrutiny by the returning officer, who had been appointed by the Committee of Administrators.

Seeking to project unanimity, Hockey India’s elections were completed at the end of withdrawals on Friday, (23 September) – a week ahead of the announced date of voting (1 October). Several key hockey-playing states like Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra have gone unrepresented in the national federations, but the erstwhile Team Batra is back in charge in what was by far the quickest resolution to any dispute involving a sports federation.

Still there are a number of legal issues pending in courts across the country over elections of the state units, including a significant one in Odisha challenging the membership granted to the recently formed Hockey Association of Odisha headed by Tirkey.  Hockey India’s erstwhile member, the Hockey Odisha is seeking legal remedy against this affiliation granting decision of Hockey India.

As he awaits handing over of charge, Bhola Nath will do well to learn some dribbling skills that will come in handy in hockey administration, along with some deft wrestling moves.

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