Panel in place to look into grade system

By Mail Today Correspondent in New Delhi

WITH less than three weeks left for the World Cup, Hockey India has formed a committee to look into the gradation of players for both senior and junior national teams for men and women.

A graded payment structure was one of the demands put forth by the men’s and women’s probables in their recent agitation for clearance of dues.

The men’s probables had stopped training during the World Cup preparatory camp in Pune for five days last month, demanding the clearance of their outstanding dues and a graded system of contracts.

Soon afterwards, the women’s probables, training at the SAI regional centre in Bhopal, resorted to wearing black arm- bands raising similar demands. Ajit Pal Singh, MP Ganesh, Zafar Iqbal and Dhanraj Pillay will be the committee members with Jagbir Singh ( Hockey India’s director of planning) as the convener, a media release said.

The captains and national coaches of the men’s and women’s teams shall also be members of this committee, it said, with the president and secretary general of the federation as special invitees.

Hockey India had earlier assured that a graded payment system will be in place once an elected dispensation takes charge after elections. But repeated legal wrangles over the affiliation process have resulted in the polls being deferred indefinitely.

“ We could not go back on our commitment just because the elections were postponed. We want the committee to take a decision on this as soon as possible,” Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra told M AIL T ODAY . “ It is now up to Jagbir to convene a meeting so that the players’ demand can be considered,” he said.

“ We have included Olympians and team captains in the panel so that they can be part of this exercise and there is no controversy.

They know what parameters need to be considered and what system needs to be put in place.” The players will be divided into grades based on various factors. “ Their fitness, experience, past record, future prospects and expectations will be taken into account. How long they remain on the pitch during a match will also be considered.

These factors will come into play when the practical side of the issue is discussed,” Batra said.

The individual contribution of players in a team sport will not be easy to compute.

“ Everybody in the committee will have to sit down and take a common viewpoint in this matter,” he said.

No other hockey- playing country has yet devised a grading system and Hockey India will be the first federation to take a step in this direction.

“ All over the world, hockey is a non- professional sport and there is not much money in the game. Even in India, apart from cricket and, to a lesser extent, football, graded payment is not the norm,” Batra said. “ Even abroad, it is only sports like basketball and rugby which have graded payment structure.”