Series of empty shots from the big-mouth FIH

The International Hockey Federation seems to be getting new ideas every day without really figuring out how to go about executing it. The latest in this line is the proposed Five Continents Hockey Tournament, with 2013 being seen as holding the first edition. That it’s still two years away while things in hockey change within days, if not months, in another matter.

FIH president Leandro Negre has said the plan is to hold the tournament a year after major events — the 2012 Olympics and the 2014 World Cup. “This will ensure the best players are picked to represent their respective continents,” said Negre. Which means it will be a biennial event i.e. once in two years.

The main issue, however, for the FIH remains finance, something they have always struggled with. “However we have to look at two factors before going ahead with the planned revival as there is a question of congestion as so far as the hockey calendar is concerned as well as the financial burdens of the continental federations. If we can resolve these two issues, then we hope to have this tournament a year after the Olympics in London,” he said.

That is not surprising, since despite being completely Europe-centric in its operations and bias, the FIH hardly gets any decent percentage of its revenue from Europe. And, as always, it will be bailed out by an Asian nation. “The President of AHF, Sultan Azlan Shah has communicated our desire to host the event,” said Asian Hockey Confederation Secretary General P. Alagendra.

A World Inter Club Championship has also been planned for January 2013 in India – interestingly, a country with no concept of a club culture. “India has agreed to bear the cost of having a tournament where eight men’s and eight women’s teams will participate in a knock-out competition over one weekend,” said Negre. Asked how India figured in the picture with no club culture, Negre’s concept of a club was very different from what it is generally presumed to be. “Any company, university or any team that plays hockey can be recognized as a club,” he said. A definition that definitely not fits into the generally accepted view.

Another supposedly brilliant concept from the FIH happens to be the World Series League, which is being seen as an alternative road to qualifying for the Olympics and the World Cups. “With the World Series being used as a qualification system, there should not be any grey areas as the top six teams will qualify through merit and the system is clear on the process of qualification,” Negre said. Except that the system is completely vague on details. Negre has said six teams will qualify but earlier only four were supposed to, and that too only for the 2014 World Cup. For Olympics, nothing has been decided. Plus, if there are five continental champions and one host, that’s six slots already gone. With the continental quotas — so important for the FIH to keep the power restricted to a closed European group – how does the FIH expect so many teams? As usual, there are no answers.