The Pioneer

PNS | New Delhi

To understand the true magnitude of the Indian Premier League (IPL) one doesn’t have to calculate the amount of money that is spent during the yearly event but just closely see the effect the tournament has on other events.

The men’s hockey World Cup is the biggest supposed event in the FIH calendar but fearing that the partisan nature of the Indian crowds the International Hockey Federation has moved the tournament forward by a week so as to avoid a clash with the IPL.

“The reason the FIH moved the World Cup one week is to get an even better worldwide promotion of FIH’s showcase event,” an FIH statement said on Friday.

The FIH on Friday changed the dates of the World Cup to February 28 to March 13 as the IPL was scheduled from March 12 to April 25. Though the FIH has not stated the IPL as the official reason of changing the dates, however, Hockey India officials confirmed that the dates were changed mainly because they were clashing with the IPL.

“The World Cup has been preponed by a week so as to avoid the clashing of the dates with the IPL and if that had happened there were fears that the tournament could witness a drop in crowd turnout,” said AK Mattoo, president Hockey India.

Mattoo also clarified that the changing of dates will not affect the preparations for the World Cup. “We have plenty of cushion before the World Cup begins. In fact, we will host a four nation tournament before the World Cup as a curtain raiser to the main event,” he added.