Indian Hockey in despair!

SRK’s tweet about the recent Indian Hockey imbroglio made it to the front page of our leading daily and I have little doubt his dog’s birthday would have made it too. He however touched upon a rather serious issue about sports governance in India, especially Indian hockey, which is going through one of its worst crisis. Players have revolted against the administration due to non-payment of wages at a time when India is preparing to host the men’s world cup next month and Commonwealth Games later in the year.

Before I delve further into the issue and its implications let’s get the basics right and understand the enormity of this situation. For the uninitiated, Hockey is the national sport of India and quite understandably so, since at the top level no other Indian team or individual can boast of a better record than our hockey teams of yore. The Indian team has a total of eight gold’s, one silver and two bronze medals in Olympics which is far bigger than any of our other sporting achievements.

Indian hockey has been in a state of decline for years but now it appears to be doomed. We have all heard and read players of various past generations crying foul against the federation but nothing has come of it. The corruption at the highest level has been in news over the last few years but no steps have been taken to change things. We have seen the arrival and departure of numerous coaches but hockey in India has continued to slide and I am afraid it’s not looking any better now.

The situation on the ground is that Indian hockey team players have decided to stop practicing ahead of the world cup scheduled next month. Players’ grouse is that they have not been paid their match fees for the recently concluded Champions Challenge tournament in Argentina where they had finished 3rd. The demands that Indian players have put on the table are simple:

- Payment of pending dues (nothing wrong in demanding what’s due)
- Defined Remuneration structure (it’s comical to even think we don’t have that in place yet)
- Performance based bonus (even sales reps get that so how come Indian hockey players don’t?)
- Professional management (ah, and I was crying foul about BCCI. They are all the same except that BCCI has the money and the strings to pull)

None of the above demands are such that they can put Indian hockey on hold however recent developments suggest that the federation has informed about the unavailability of funds to pay the match fees. Now there can be nothing more comical than the fact that the governing body does not have enough money to pay its players when I am absolutely sure that every top official in the federation would have swelling bank accounts with enough to pay SRK for a couple of stage shows. A recent news flash on NDTV suggests that Hockey India is mulling a ban on revolting players. Now, this is even more absurd than the no money argument since the players appear to be in the right.

There is light at the end of every tunnel and I wish this crisis would once and for all change the way Hockey is managed in India. Every Indian and not just the sports fan would like to see the end of this era and the beginning of a new one for hockey in India. Indian Hockey deserves better and it needs to be saved and now- for India’s pride at least.