Ordos: Highly disappointed with India losing the right to host this year's Champions Trophy hockey tournament, national team coach Michael Nobbs said it would rob the fans of an opportunity to witness the game.
"I think it's very disappointing," said Nobbs, who came to know about the development minutes before the India-South Korea match of the Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament.
"I am saying from the point of view of hockey. The boys will suffer as they won't get to play the best teams before the Olympic Qualifying."
"The hockey-loving fans in India will not get to see the Champions Trophy and overall, the game will suffer," he added.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) tournament was to be held in New Delhi from December 3-11, but it was announced on Tuesday that India will no longer host the 2011 Men's Champions Trophy due to ongoing problems with the governance of hockey in the country.
There was hope that the FIH would let India host the tournament even though they were not agreeing with the way hockey was being administered in India.
Nobbs didn't want to say too much about the federations running the sport.
"I am only the coach of the Indian team," said Nobbs.
"But if I feel the sport will suffer, I do believe both the federations should probably think on the same lines."
With the Champions Trophy withdrawn from the country, India will now go to South Africa to play the Champions Challenge in November.
According to the ICC statutes, which are followed by the FIH, there can only be one governing body for any one sport in any country with exclusive authority and responsibility to govern, organise national competitions and to enter national teams in international competitions.
In India, Hockey India (HI) and Indian Hockey federation (IHF) have been at loggerheads for quite some time to control the running of the game in the country.
To put an end to the tussle, the Sport Ministry had formulated a compromise settlement between the warring bodies to run the same smoothly in the country.
But FIH, which recognized Hockey India as India's governing body, raised objections on the temporary power-sharing formula and made it clear it was not acceptable to the governing body.
Stating that the agreement between HI and IHF was not in compliance with the Olympic Charter and the FIH Statutes, the world body also had threatened to withdraw all international tournaments from India, including the Champions Trophy and Olympic qualifiers for men and women in February next year.
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