Sinderpal Singh
Research Fellow, ISAS
Eight time Olympic champions in field hockey, India dominated the game till the mid to late 1970s. It is no coincidence that this was about the time when the playing surface changed from traditional grass pitches to artificial playing surfaces. This changed the whole dynamics of field hockey and with it, Indian dominance of the sport internationally.
Although hockey is still India’s national sport, the national team and the domestic league has been in steady decline for a long time. To make things worse, since 2008, there have been two warring federations in charge of the sport in India – the earlier Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and the new Hockey India (HI). The former has been de-recognized by the sport’s international governing body, the International Hockey Federation (FIH as it is commonly referred to in its French version). This was the result of claims that emerged that bribes were being accepted at the body’s highest levels in return for inclusion in the Indian national team. The Indian sports ministry, however, has other ideas. First, it wrote to the FIH in 2010, requesting that it recognize the Indian Hockey federation and not Hockey India as the sole governing body for hockey in India. The FIH refused to budge. The Indian government then forced both IHF and HI to come together and submit a proposal under which the two bodies will co-exist but not merge. This again was not good enough for the FIH. As a result, the FIH also removed India as the host of the prestigious Champions Trophy and made New Zealand the host nation.
Things on the pitch were mirroring developments off it. In 2008, the Indian hockey team, for the first time in its history since the sport was introduced as an Olympic sport in 1928, failed to qualify for the Olympics as a result of losing 2-0 to Great Britain in a qualifying tournament. The first ray of hope for Indian hockey came when India appointed an Australian, Michael Nobbs, as its new national team coach. Nobbs’s credentials and experience gave many the hopes that India’s performance will improve.
Off the pitch, there had been a proposal floated several years ago to launch a hockey version of cricket’s IPL. It does seem that this proposal is finally going be realized but not without its own set of complications. The World Hockey Series, which like the IPL, will feature huge cash money for the winners and international players playing for various franchises. The snag is that the IHF and not HI are behind this initiative. The FIH has already warned national associations and players that anyone playing in this tournament will not be able to play in FIH-sanctioned tournaments – which basically mean an end to their international hockey careers. Despite this threat, several international hockey players have already signalled their desire to play in this tournament. Given the fact that hockey players who play for their country hardly get any money for performing national duty, the lure of the cash available is continuing to lure top international players. One can only hope that if this event becomes as successful as it organizers think it will, the FIH will come around and sanction the tournament. Before that however, in February 2012, is the Olympic qualifying tournament, to be held in Delhi. Failure to qualify for two consecutive Olympics in front of fellow Indians may be a knock Indian hockey may never be able to recover from.
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