Friday, Nov 29, 2002
Friday, Nov 29, 2002 |
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Hockey
By S. Thyagarajan
The committees, the true soul and substance of the hockey management, are holding a series of meeting with the aim of enhancing the image, enlarging the area of activities and clearly determined to introduce an element of vibrancy to the entire gamut of functioning as to accomplish the objective of globalisation of hockey. Aware of the challenges and alive to the needs to face the competition from other disciplines in the Olympic arena as also in the area of sponsorship, the FIH, is intensely pursuing the routes to keep the interest for the game alive. Various measures have been put in place and many are contemplated carefully with the concern of not adversely impacting on the charm or system of a sport which has its own distinctive ethos. At the same time, the top brass in the FIH is conscious of the imperatives towards acquiring that touch of sophistication and modernity both in administration and on the field of play. So many experiments are on the anvil, and perhaps, the most revolutionary being the to adopt the television technology as an aid to the umpires. Predictably, the FIH is cautious to the TV replays as an aid to eliminate umpiring errors, but an experiment is on here although it is not taken as part of the World Cup, which is featuring for the first time as many as 16 teams. The difficulties of getting these qualifiers that confronted the FIH need no emphasis here but the process which went to the extent of getting the CAS (Court of Arbitration) in Lausanne involved, cannot be simply be obliterated.
Issues aplenty
What gives the FIH meetings in this lovely Aussie city extra attention is the relatively large number of issues that require decisions and firmer guidelines. While every decision taken during the series of meetings have to be eventually approved by the Congress on December 5, there has been a sincere effort on the part of the members to give the whole gamut of exercise a push forward. Understandably, future programmes leading to the Olympics at Athens and, possibly at Beijing in 2008, the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Champion Challenge, apart from the entire range of Junior programmes, are high on the list. The Competitions Committee is sifting and sorting out the bids from various sections and studying the various aspects to determine the value of bids. Germany, the men's World Champion, has made a bid for the next edition in 2006 both for men and women, while Spain is keen to have men's section at Madrid while United States has come forward with the proposal for women. But, disturbingly, there are no bids for the men and women World Cup qualifiers in 2005, but the Competition Committee is confident of finalising a host shortly for both. Mr. Muneer Sait is attending the meeting as the member of the Competitions Committee.
India has a good chance
Interstingly, there are more than one offer for staging the Junior World Cup (Under-21-men) in 2005. India, the holder, is in the fray and the presentation submitted for the perusal, under the guidance of the IHC Secretary, Mr. K. Jothikumaran, is said to have impressed quite a lot of members. While the bids for these will be finalised on December 3, India's chances are said to be bright against that of Pakistan, the Netherlands, and Chile. Pakistan has also requested to staging the men's Champions Trophy while a similar offer for women has come from Argentina. There are three bidders for the 2003 Men's Champions Challenge with Egypt, Italy and South Africa in the fray. Though officially no important changes are contemplated for rules, the Board members are to review them in detail for a possible documentation of certain areas. Similarly, the Equipment Committee is engaged in the exercise of standardizing the sticks. A lot of research and laboratory work are going on in this regard. Buoyed by the remarkable success of the Year of the Youth Programme, the Development Commission, is keen to maintain the tempo of activities to attract more and more youth into the fold. The proposal to introducing a World Youth Festival and Youth Marathon will form the major theme at the meeting, according to Mr. K. Jothikumaran, one of the members of the DCC. The Marketing and Media Committee headed by Mr. David Burt is expected to discuss a wide range of matters relating to project the sport more and more on television. Several measures have been initiated already in this regard and the response from the internationally-recognised TV and Cable Services has been excellent according to an assessment. The launch of the electronic World Hockey Magazine and widening the data base for the readership will be discussed in detail as also the work relating to finalising the proposed project of Hall of Fame. Meanwhile, India is among the four invited for the twin-four nation tournament by Australia in May-June next year. The events are to be played in Sydney and Perth. Apart from Australia, India and Pakistan are in the fray. A decision on the fourth team is expected shortly, and the news here is it is likely to be Argentina or South Korea. "With India, Pakistan and Australia, it will be a great event'' said Barry Dancer, Coach of the Australian team.
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