Who bullies hockey India League?

Has global’s hot hockey property ‘Hockey India League’ ever been sought to be bullied not by the National Sports Federations but by some crook minded clubs in their over-enthusiasm to short cut route to ‘profit’ from ‘rich’ Hockey India?

The answer definitely points to a definitive YES.

On the eve of second player auction – a phenomenon new to the so-called amateur sport field hockey – this site has learnt painfully that in the run up process to last Hero Hockey India League when after everyone concerned gave wholehearted consent to part players for the FIH Window enabled event, some clubs have invented new treasure in their players’ and started demanding their flesh.

Agreed an influential official: “Yes. We face no problem from any National Federation, but here and there one or two Clubs made things difficult for us. We somehow sorted out this last time, we compromised, and now once for all we are free of this unreasonable demand. Because, we showed firmness not to yield”.

Said another source close to powers: “Many thought that the League may not prosper, and did not view it as a long term property. They thought of making quick bucks. But now the League on firm footing. Hockey India has signed a contract with Australian Federation for not only parting players but also to have a simultaneous test series.

This property is spin off of the Indian gift to the world, HIL”.

Hockey India is therefore likely to sign MoU kind of things with many other countries to put HIL on firm footing and also to avoid third parties from ‘poking nose’.

We had just a dozen countries taking part in the HIL last year, now players from 20 countries opted to come under the hammer. If one or two countries opt out of HIL, it is now sure its their loss not Hockey India Leagues’, said the same source.

As chronicler this writer is at pains to understand such a situation has risen in the past that the promoter of the world’s costliest and most popular league had to almost bend backwards with Clubs to get players who were either in the list of auction or sold but were unable to take part in the league.

Hockey India League has created tens of over-night hockey millionaires with the likes of Tuen de Nooijer, Jaap Stockmann, Ashley Jackson, Tom Boon getting astronomical sums for the HIL sojourn.

Underlining the significance of HIL, the global body of hockey sport, Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) provides a Window to facilitate mobility of players across the globe. Yet it is observed some countries cold-shoulder.

In the early 90s, when the likes of Saharas came to hockey and offered luxury cars and television sets for players to give under various labels (Best Player, best goalie etc), its conservative and vision-less FIH officials who scuttled the offer and denied players their rightful rewards. They asked the sponsor to take out their cars out of the stadium!

Now some countries try to do the same, ‘give to us not to players’ kind of approach which cannot stand nowadays.

Is not better for the world to rally behind the Hockey India League and make it successful so that the sport scale next height?

Is not because of this, FIH president Leondro Negre said on the eve of first Hockey India League: ‘World hockey history will henceforth be written as Pre Hockey India League and Post Hockey India League’
This is a question that every hockey playing has to ponder over while taking the lesson that Hockey India will never yield to them henceforth.

Player auction for the fourth Hockey India League will be held tomorrow (the 17th September).
FIH CEO Kelly Fairweather has specifically flown to India to witness the Franchise-Auction on Thursday. The whole day auction will be telecast by DD Sports, live-streaming available in the HI official website.