FIH (Int Hockey Fed) has blood on its hands (Demise of Ind..

(At the outset, I'm cross-posting this on rsc as there are more Indian
hockey fans here than rec.sport.hockey.field)

Coming to the main topic, I had said this in an email to the
International Hockey Federation a long time back, and now is seconded
by another good article on Indian hockey on www.indianhockey.com
The FIH is one of the main players in the demise of Indian hockey and
this has also been
compounded no doubt by the nefarious internal politics of the IHF
(Indian Hockey Federation).

Recently, the FIH has gone on an Support-Indian-hockey or more
appropriately,
Revive-Indian-hockey mantra, concerned by the dejecting fall of the
sport in one of the biggest markets in the world. So this concern, we
can all see, is not out of a genuine love for Indian hockey, but more
to get the moolah out of the huge Indian market. This move comes also
after the International Olympic body has threatened FIH that hockey
future as an Olympic sport is under review as there are other non-
Olympic sports with more potential that are eagerly waiting to take
hockey's Olympic slot. (That is also another reason why the FIH is
going full guns in promoting the sport in China, another potential
huge market)

The FIH, along with the IHF (Indian Hockey Fed) is now actively trying
to revive the fortunes of Indian hockey and aiming for a top-4
Consistent world ranking for this former Asian giant. (As to where
Pakistan fits in this equation, one never knows...but then from an FIH
view-point who gives a damn about a country where the economic market
is not very significant like India).

The demise of grass as a playing surface precisely throttled artistic
hockey and rushed in the rise of power hockey rough shod. This was
also compounded by the periodic tinkering of rules to suit more the
fast and powerful European style of play. And Indian hockey silently
bore all this injustice. Of course there were token protests now and
then from former hockey stalwarts, but the FIH was unconcerned at that
time...WHY???Because , at that time, India was still a poor country
and at that time not a big market force..

Now the economic tables have changed and the FIH has realized that it
can no longer afford to continue the step-motherly treatment it had so
far meted out to Asian hockey and that is why all this sweetners,
IMHO.

And that is why India should now put its foot down and re-start
playing on grass and Pakistan and the rest of the Sub-continent
should also actively support this. If lucrative TV-rights FIH
tournaments are going to be held in South Asia, then the hosts should
not budge from playing on grass.

Just like lawn-tennis is being played in many surfaces, hockey should
also start doing this. And just like in the tennis Davis Cup, the
host nation should be allowed to choose the surface of play. Then a
true champion would be the one that wins on all surfaces...So what is
being said here is not that synthetic surface should be abandoned
all together, but should be one of the various options.

If the FIH does not relent then let us follow our own sport... grass
hockey and let India once again start producing dribbling wizards like
Dhyan Chand.

Of course, the FIH is now backing China too and that's where India
may lose out...
but India and Pakistan should join hands and stick to their guns..(But
so far the IHF and its Pakistani counterpart, PHF have absolutely
shown no unity on this and many other world hockey issues and as a
result the FIH and European hockey have made merry on this lack of
unity and have blantantly twisted the sport to their total total
advantage. So this has also resulted in the sliding fortunes of Pak
hockey.).

Yes, we subcontinental hockey fans, have the right to demand the birth
of another Pele of Hockey aka
Dhyan Chand and only grass can give us this. WHY NOT??

Shiva IYER
120807
www.sivaramhariharan.com