Kunwar Pal Singh Gill’s 14-year reign as the czar of Indian hockey ended with the Indian Olympic Association suspending the national federation on Monday in a widely-welcomed move. Gill’s was a rocky rule in every respect, with the national sport repeatedly hitting the headlines for its failures and finally reaching the nadir at Santiago in March when it failed to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time in 80 years. On the administration front, Gill and his team plumbed new depths when a television sting operation caught the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary K Jothikumaran accepting money, allegedly for including a player in the national team.

Not many sports in India can boast of transparency in administration but given the profile hockey has in this country – thanks to its phenomenal record of eight gold medals in the Olympic Games – follies by the officialdom are frequently highlighted in the media. Unfortunately, that has had little effect during Gill’s tenure, with the ex-super cop staying firm, brushing aside adversaries with the same authority that he displayed during his days as Punjab police chief. After the Santiago debacle, when Gill declared he would relinquish his post only after restoring Indian hockey to its old glory, his determination had to be admired but the practicability of his words had to be questioned, for the sport’s fall from grace had been so dramatic in his 14 years as the IHF chief. In fact, chopping and changing of players as well as hiring and firing of coaches became a deplorable trend in Gill's time, with the sport suffering badly for want of proper direction.

Despite such a shoddy track record, if the likes of Gill continued in the administration, the set-up had to be blamed, with the apex body, the Indian Olympic Association, chary of taking any drastic step even when there was a dire need for it. Finally, the push had to come from hockey’s world governing body, with the international hockey federation (FIH) writing a letter to the IOA, urging them to act after the bribery scandal. The IOA move is not without precedent. It did suspend the IHF in the seventies but this time around, the task is an onerous one.

The responsibility of rebuilding it, or at least that of strengthening its foundations, is a tough one, but the future of a sport so dear to Indian sentiments depends on how the IOA goes about it. It is indeed a great opportunity, one that the sport should grab with both hands.