Sports Ministry accords recognition to Handball Association of India

NEW DELHI: The Sports Ministry said on Tuesday it has decided to recognise the Handball Association of India (HAI) as the official body to run the game in the country.

The development comes after Digvijay Chautala was elected as the president of HAI and Jagan Mohan Rao as its secretary general, ending a longstanding impasse over running of the sport following the Indian Olympic Association’s intervention.

Recently the IOA also gave HAI recognition after it agreed to merge with the Handball Federation of India (HFI). The amicable resolution assumes importance as India has been preparing for the upcoming Hangzhou Asian Games.

In a letter directed to the president and secretary general of HAI, the ministry said, “In order to have a fully functional NSF to run the affairs of sport of handball, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports has decided to recognise Handball Association of India as NSF for the promotion and regulation of handball in the country with immediate effect.” “While deciding HAI as NSF for handball, the ministry has taken into account the fact that the HAI is duly affiliated to the international governing body for the sport of handball viz., International Handball Federation, the Asian Handball Federation and also the Indian Olympic Association,” the letter stated.

The two bodies — HFI and HAI — had been claiming to be the legitimate national federation for handball in the last few years. Handball was dropped from the National Games in Gujarat last year due to the confusion as to which body would run the show.

The ministry noted in the letter, “Further, the election of the HAI have been held under the supervision of Retd. District Judge Justice Deepak Kumar Srivastava…” After being elected to the top two posts, both Chautala and Rao had vowed to work in unison for the betterment of handball in India.