FIH president Negre`s India visit postponed

New Delhi: International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre`s proposed visit to India this week has been postponed for the time being due to personal problems.

With an aim to resolve the long-standing dispute between Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation, the FIH president was scheduled to arrive here today on a three-day visit. But according to sources in HI, Negre has deferred his visit till the end of this month. "Leandro Negre has postponed his tour to India. We don`t know the exact reason but it seems he has some personal problems. He is now expected to come here by the end of this month or early May," a source in HI said. Negre, along with FIH vice-president Antonio von Ondarza and chief executive officer Kelly Fairweather, were scheduled to arrive here today and hold meetings with all the concerned parties to sort out the differences between HI and IHF before leaving the country on April 13. Earlier this year during the London Olympic qualifiers, Negre had promised to visit India soon to help both HI and IHF in sorting out their differences. During Olympic qualifiers in February this year, the FIH president had given both HI and IHF a month`s time to resolve their problems. But more than a month has passed and the two warring federations have so far failed to find out a solution. PTI