Hockey India CEO Elena Norman steps down over unfavourable treatment

Elena Norman, the long-standing CEO of Hockey India, has resigned after holding the post for almost 13 years. She cited “unpaid dues and a difficult working environment” as the reasons for her resignation. This comes close on the heels of the resignation of women’s coach Janneke Schopman, who stated that she was not valued by the Hockey India officials. Norman expressed her concerns about the internal conflict within Hockey India.

She mentioned two factions within the organization, one including herself and the president, Dilip Tirkey, and the other including the secretary, Bholanath Singh, the executive director, RK Srivastava, and the treasurer, Sekar J Manoharan. She stated, “It was getting tough to deliver in the fight between two factions.”

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Norman’s 13-year stint with Indian Hockey

Norman was hired as CEO in 2011 under Narinder Batra, who was then the secretary general of HI which had just been recognised as the sport’s governing body after years of administrative turmoil in the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), formerly the governing body of hockey in India.

She had a smooth run under Batra, who was HI president from 2014-16 after which he became the FIH president in 2016. Simultaneously, she was also the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president in 2017.

But following a court case filed by 1975 World Cup-winner Aslam Sher Khan about administrative issues of HI under Batra and Norman, Batra resigned from FIH, IOA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2022 which led to HI elections where former India skipper Dilip Tirkey and Bhola Nath Singh were elected as president and secretary general. While Norman has had the support of Tirkey, it has not been the same as other sections of HI.

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Golden Days under the reign of Elena Norman

During her tenure, HI also hosted multiple events like the Champions Trophy and World League Finals in 2015 and 2017, Olympic Qualifiers in 2019 and 2024 as well as Pro League.

Norman was also at the forefront of bringing women’s hockey to the limelight, providing them equal facilities as men including cash awards recognising standout performances in international events through the HI Annual Awards. She was particularly instrumental in the success of the women’s team that qualified for Rio 2016, the first Olympic qualification in 36 years.

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