A day after suggesting that KPS Gill resign from his post as chief of Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), Union Sports Minister MS Gill today made it clear that he was ready to give the sport the push it needed.

At the inauguration of the Athletics Federation of India workshop here today, Gill said the national game will get all the support it needed in its hour of crisis. And the first thing he did after reaching Shastri Bhawan was to restore the sport to the top of the ‘priority’ list.

On Tuesday, Gill had criticised the functioning of the IHF in the wake of former secretary K Jothikumaran’s alleged involvement in a bribery scandal and followed it up with a suggestion saying the federation’s chief should gracefully quit and make way for others to run the game.

Though his sudden volte face may have surprised many, the minister was clear in his mind about his policy towards Olympic sports.

“Even if we failed to qualify for the Olympics, hockey should remain on top of our agenda and should not be relegated,” he said.

In the same vein, the minister said that he supported disciplines like athletics, football and volleyball and that these were inexpensive disciplines that didn’t need big investment.

In his estimation, athletics in the country was right on track and he said he was hoping for a gold at the Beijing Games from the 4x400 women’s quartet.

“India should win gold in women’s relay,” he said. Incidentally, the relay squad is yet to achieve the qualifying norm for the Games.

... contd.