The infighting between two factions of Hockey India has caught the eyes of Sports Ministry. The ministry will wait for the warring factions to solve their differences before thinking of an intervention.

Two factions led by HI president Dilip Tirkey and secretary general Bholanath Singh has been locked in an impasse ever since the body was criticised for changing the national teams’ jersey colour from blue to saffron before the recent World Cup.

While Tirkey has maintained that he was not consulted before the decision, the decision was widely criticised by fans and former players.

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On Saturday, Tirkey stripped Director Genreal RK Srivastava of all his powers citing a trip to the World Cup last month, the selection of a saffron jersey, a lack of disciplinary action over players’ misconduct on the South Africa tour last December, and the “unavailability” of ICC/POSH records in a case involving a federation staffer.

Meanwhile, Bholanath, termed the show cause notice illegal and has now called an Emergent Board Meeting on September 18 to discuss the current situation.

One of the sources in the ministry said that they need to resolve it among themselves. “Let them resolve it amicably, mutually. Whether ministry intervention is needed would be decided once it is clear that the situation is not getting resolved,” the source said.

The Sports Minister had met the HI brass after the World Cup in Belgium and the Netherlands where the men’s team finished a disappointing eighth while the women did marginally better to end fifth.

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“The Minister had touched upon all this in that meeting too and developments are being monitored,” said the source.

Interestingly on Sunday, while Tirkey met Sports Minister with new acting DG, Srivastava along with Bholanath Singh was present in Punjab with the chief minister Bhagwant Mann for the dates announcement of Asian Championships Trophy 2026.

In the meeting between Tirkey and Minister, the future of Hockey India League was also discussed.

“There were discussions on Hockey India League and we have given suggestions to the federation for the smooth functioning of the league,” the source said.