Times of India: Former players surprised over Champions Trophy axe
By Rohan Alvares
MBAI: The International Hockey Federation’s decision (FIH) to introduce a new annual global home and away league involving the world’s top nations may have got Kelly Fairweather excited about the sport’s future, but not everyone shares the FIH CEO’s enthusiasm.
Aimed at rejuvenating the sport at the international stage, the radical changes announced on Monday will see the new league replace the existing Hockey World League Semi-finals and Finals from 2019 and also bring the curtains down on the traditional Champions Trophy -a decision that took some former players by surprise.
Shahnaz Shaikh, vice-captain of the Pakistan side that conquered the inaugural Champions Trophy in 1978, criticised the move to scrap the Champions Trophy, a competition founded by the Pakistan Hockey Federation, although the former Olympian stated that he was not against the introduction of the new global league.
Talking to TOI on Tuesday, former India coach and Olympic gold medallist MK Kaushik also couldn’t understand the reason behind the move to do away with Champions Trophy. “I would continue with the Champions Trophy and I suppose you could also have this new league,” Kaushik said. Further into the interaction, though, the 60-year-old said he wasn’t convinced by the FIH’s ambitious plan.
“You have to look at the financial aspect and also the players’ perspective. I’m not sure if it will help FIH make more money. It could be a more expensive affair to travel so much. And not every team can afford that. Also what sort of recovery time will players have between matches? I’m not for this change,” Kaushik said.