The Hindu: FIH to watch new goal system with interest

The next edition of the Hockey India League will be watched “with interest” by world body FIH as a new system of counting goals is introduced in the franchise-based tournament.

The new regulations in the tournament held January 18-February 21 next year will award two goals for every successful field effort in a bid to make the game more attacking.

A goal will also count double if it comes from a penalty corner that was awarded because a goal was prevented by a deliberate foul.

The other goal regulations remain the same with penalty corner goals, goals scored from a stroke resulting from a penalty corner and those in shootouts all considered as one goal.

“It will be interesting to see if the higher weighting for a field goal leads to more open and entertaining matches,” FIH chief executive Kelly Fairweather said in emailed comments to The Associated Press on Wednesday. “FIH will watch with interest to see whether it has the desired effect.”

The FIH has been trying to make the game faster in recent years and changed the format to four 15-minute quarters from two 35-minute halves during the Asian Games last year, a rule which had been tried earlier in the HIL.

“The FIH competitions committee has considered different scoring methods previously but decided not to change as there was no evidence to suggest that it would lead to a more open and exciting game,” Fairweather said. “However, this initiative by HIL gives an opportunity to see if there is any merit in extending the system being adopted, or perhaps a derivative.”

The world body says it was consulted on the changes in regulation but does not intend to introduce similar changes in international games.

“Because of the significance of this change, both the FIH competitions and rules committees were consulted and agreed upon the trial of these new regulations.

“Given the high quality of players, skill and entertainment in competitions like the Hockey India League and the EuroHockey League, they are the ideal environment to try out new ideas for improving the game and have been used in the past to test regulations that eventually became rules, such as self-pass and playing the ball above the shoulder,” Fairweather said.

The 2016 HIL will feature players from around the world with Germans Moritz Fuerste and Florian Fuchs, Australian players Kieran Govers and Jamie Dwyer, Dutchman Nicolas Jacobi, New Zealander Devon Manchester of New Zealand and a host of Indians bid for in a players’ auction on Wednesday.