Venues at Delhi, Chandigarh need upgradation: Meredith
MUMBAI: The Shivaji stadium in Delhi, as well as the hockey venue at Chandigarh, need some work to be done to bring them up to the mark for hosting matches in the upcoming $2 million prize-money World Series Hockey, said newly appointed technical director Dennis Meredith on Tuesday.
“I came to India a week ago and made venue inspections at Bangalore, which needs some upgrading, Hyderabad where the facilities are excellent, Delhi and Chandigarh,” said the 65-year-old Australian.
“I was a bit disappointed with the Shivaji stadium which is not yet finished but close to being so. In Chandigarh some specific work needs to be done to bring the venue up to international standards,” said Meredith.
The former Australian player and umpire, who was the Events/Competitions Manager with the International Hockey Federation for ten years before retiring from the world body, is confident that facilities at Chennai would be up to the mark, after having hosted the 2005 Champions Trophy.
“I would be visiting the other centres on my next visit to India in October,” said Meredith, who first visited India to officiate in the 1982 World Cup held in Mumbai.
He was confident that the facilities at Mumbai Hockey Association’s Mahindra stadium, which was the practice venue for the 1982 mega event, would be improved sufficiently by the time he returns to India.
WSH, featuring eight franchise outfits, is to be held in eight cities from December 15, 2011 to January 22, 2012 with each team playing every other team in a home and away format (14 games each), leading to the semi finals and the best-of-three finals.
Meredith has had a long association with Indian hockey and was previously in the country in his official FIH capacity at the World Cup in March, 2010 and the Commonwealth Games late last year, both at Delhi.
“I quit FIH after the World Cup in Delhi and was later connected with the FIH as a consultant. I don’t work for FIH any more,” said the Australian to clear the air as the world body has not given its sanction for the WSH.
WSH is a joint initiative of Nimbus Sport and the Indian Hockey Federation, the 75-year-old body that is not recognised any longer by the FIH which recognises the much younger rival body Hockey India.
Meredith saw the tournament as a step in the right direction to improve Indian hockey at the elite level.
“It (Indian hockey) can be seen in two facets. At the grass-root level, I believe, India is still strong. But at the elite level it’s not, and there may be many reasons. This tournament would help the Indian players gain a lot by playing with and against elite players of other countries,” he said.
“This is a good initiative to bring greater depth to the Indian hockey at the elite level as they would come across different techniques, different game plans. This, I feel, would be one of the great benefits (to Indian hockey) of the tournament,” he explained.