WSH unveils its grand plans after FIH approval

Kabir Mandrekar

After initially putting a spanner in the works, the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) has given the green signal to conduct the World Series Hockey.

The parent board has submitted a written undertaking that allows all hockey players who were contracted on or before March 31, 2011 to participate in the WSH without any consequence, it was informed by Harish Thawani, executive chairman of Nimbus Communications, at the launch of the WSH on Thursday.

“We had a meeting recently with Leandro Negre, the president of the FIH, when he gave it to us in writing that the world body will not interfere with players contracted on or before March 31. We were not happy with the cut-off date but since we had already signed all our players before the given date, we did not find it necessary to take up the issue,” Thawani said.

The mega tournament is set to be held from December 15-January 22 across eight cities. There will be a total of eight teams and 176 players, including 40 overseas players participating in the 38-day event played in a home-and-away format. This, according to Thawani, is the distinctive factor that will help the WSH reach the level of success that eluded the Premier Hockey League (PHL).

“We will have eight venues showcasing top-class hockey action. The PHL had only two venues, thus limiting the popularity of the sport,” he said. Six out of the eight cities — Mumbai, Hyderabad, Delhi, Bangalore, Chennai and Chandigarh — have already been finalised on the basis of their deep rooted hockey culture, and the number of international hockey players they have produced.

The two remaining cities will be finalised shortly with Kolkata, Rourkela, Pune, Bhopal, Lucknow, Ranchi and Manipur in the shortlist.

The eight captains were also unveiled at the occasion with four international players — Brent Livermore (Australia), Rodrego Garza Barbero (Spain), Rehan Butt (Pakistan), Lucas Vila (Argentina) — and four Indians — Adrian D’Souza, Sardara Singh, Prabhjot Singh and Arjun Halappa gracing the stage.

Total prize money of $3,000,000 will be on offer with $2,000,000 being given away to the winners and the runners-up. There will be no auction process like the IPL but an NBA inspired draft process.