K. ARUMUGAM
Men’s Asia Cup is now on its 12th edition, has evolved to be the most cherished asset of the Asian hockey fraternity. It was the bonhomie between then Indian Hockey Federation president Dr MAM Ramaswamy and his counterpart in Pakistan Brig (Retd) Manzoor Hussain Atif that saw the concept of an exclusive hockey tournament beyond the realm of the FIH and IOC, took shape. Recently released book, ‘TURF BATTLES’: India’s Asia Cup journey’ recollects and reconstructs the context in which both Dr MAM, as he is popularly known, and Atif envisioned the Asia Cup. It was in fact the Asia Cup trophy was willingly presented by Dr MAM on his own resources.
Relevant extract is reproduced hereunder:
…….There was an area that caused concern to those history-making players and promoters in Asia. They felt they didn’t get adequate competition avenues in the form of tournaments outside the quadrennial Olympic Games.
Even the first two Asian Games (1951 and 1954), despite being the brainchild of India’s pioneering sports administrators, did not include hockey! It was finally inducted into the third edition (Tokyo, 1958). Hockey in the Asian Games was not a guarantee as things turned out since the Tokyo edition with even some hosts questioning its inclusion and many doing so reluctantly!
It was quite a challenge for heads of various national federations in Asia to think of their own platform. The Indian ladies took a first firm step. They organized an Asian Cup as early as in 1968. Interestingly, two African nations were invited to step in for late withdrawals!
Dr MAM Ramaswamy in specs presenting National Champions Trophy to Services team
Meanwhile, Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH), the global governing body of the sport, had finally accepted India and Pakistan’s joint proposal to incept the World Cup. The inaugural edition was held in 1971 and has befittingly emerged as a global asset.
India and Pakistan dominated the hockey scenario following World War II winning major titles multiple times. But the 1970s saw the emergence of parallel power houses. Germany won the Olympic gold in 1972 and New Zealand in 1976. In between, The Netherlands wrested the World Cup in 1973. They had caught up with what was till then an essential Asian, or to be precise a sub continental, takeaway.
Asians, especially the then ruling deities India and Pakistan, sensed the lurking fear that their success and survival were at stake. They wanted more tournament opportunities to remain at the top and stay relevant.
They intensified their efforts and lobbied hard with the FIH for required autonomy. It paid off. The FIH began to smoothen some of its stringent rules and accord some degree of autonomy to continental federations. The continental outfits, who lacked powers to organize tournaments of their own, grabbed the opportunity. The Asia Cup was not far off now. But it needed a spark to take actual shape.
Meanwhile, Western nations boycotted the Moscow Olympics. It came as a shock to many hockey nations especially to Pakistan which had last won its second Olympic gold in 1968. The much-awaited spark arrived.
A couple of years before the Moscow Olympics, an Indian businessman MAM Ramaswamy took over the reins of the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF). He was business like, felt hockey had hidden but untapped commercial value. He mooted and put on board the India-Pakistan Bilateral International Series (BIS), erroneously termed Test Series. It was a huge success prior to the 1978 World Cup and the Moscow Olympics.
The BIS and formation of an All Star XI after the 1978 Asian Games resulted in some sort of bonhomie between the two nations who had fought three wars until then and whose perception and demands often came in the way of arriving at a consensus in the corridors of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF). Pakistan, for instance, wanted AHF to be headed by the Asian Games winning nation. It was in force for about two decades till Sultan Azlan Shah, then King of Perak, Malaysia, thankfully stepped in and ushered the yardstick out.
Against this backdrop, the Asia Cup concept came into being. MAM Ramaswamy from the Indian side and the eminent Pakistani duo Ali Iqtidar Dara (popularly known as AIS Dara) and Brig. Manzoor Hussain Atif worked in tandem to put the new concept on board.
Double Olympian Dara became president of the AHF after Pakistan won the 1978 Asian Games with his Olympian-colleague MH Atif as Secretary General, following the winner-take-all tradition.
The Asian Cup, as it was called then, was proposed to be held in 1981, but an administrative change in Indian hockey affairs caused its postponement. A new set of officials took over the IHF, after MAM gave up the post of President. Before that, he had ensured that the Asia Cup trophy was manufactured, polished and presented to the AHF – out of his own resources……..