Chak De India - Chucked out of Olympics Hockey

The euphoria of an Indian win in Women’s World Cup Final of Hockey had not even died down when India has been brought back to earth with a major jolt! While the former maybe ‘Reel Life’ as orchestrated in the hit movie ‘Chak De India’, the latter is the bitter truth of ‘Real Life’.

Yes, India has been chucked out of the Olympic sport that is its National Game. It is for the first time in eight decades (since 1928) that India has failed to qualify for the Olympics in hockey. My attempt is not to make a snide remark on a moribund sport in India, but is to delve into the possible reasons for this heartbreaking failure by asking a few questions that is on the mind of every Indian.

Are we sentimental about the past and not abreast with the future that has already happened? India has won 8 Gold, 2 Bronze, and 1 Silver in Olympics hockey since 1928. As much as it is an impressive record, the fact remains that we have won nothing in the last 27 years. So what has changed in the sport that has contributed to this debacle? The answer is that just about everything has changed.

Long passes, emphasis on penalty corner conversion, fitness levels required of every player, no off side rule, and the pitch itself on which the game is played has changed. India is still living in the past and still believes in dribbling and other skills atypical of the traditional method of playing the sport. Yes, Indians should capitalize on the Asian style of Hockey and burnish their skills to have an advantage over their Non – Asian opponents, but to ignore the change that has happened and to not master the European style has been a major blunder.

It is one thing not predicting a change; it is completely another thing not to adapt to it. We must stop living in the past, live in the present, and be proactive in predicting the future.
Is IHF operating as a professional body?

NO, IHF has failed to operate as a professional body and a business entity driven by market forces. Business Organizations that are driven by market forces slough off the unproductive and the unsuccessful to stay competitive. However, IHF has operated like a typical government organization and therefore economics and common sense has been viewed as constrain. The IHF has been headed by the same regime for nearly 15 years now under the leadership of K P S Gill. Unfortunately the Olympic debacle is not going to effect a change in the paradigm.

Is IHF a corrupt body?

The IHF has purported to have put a process in place that will take time to produce the desired results. As I am not privy to the functioning of IHF, I will not be in a position to make a definite comment on the level of corruption prevalent at IHF.

However, if certain questionable decisions were to be the basis for an answer, then I still fail to understand how six members of the 1998 Asian Games winning side was sacked by K P S Gill. If the grapevine is to be believed, Gill also interferes in every aspect of the sport; be it administration, team selection, and marketing. Gill is also believed to have drained Federation resources on FIH and AHF elections. In case of any unsuccessful endeavor, IHF has been irreverent of players, coach, and support staff and sacked them with impunity as they are well aware that The Ministry of Sports and youth affairs who funds IHF will never question them. Also, the tirade of how K P S Gill has eviscerated the sport of all its glory has been a common aspect amongst all sports pundits.

The IHF, despite all its failures has not seen any change at the Top Management level and this is indicative of the fact that all is not fair at IHF. Therefore, I can only conclude that corruption is as prevalent at IHF as in any other government organization.

Are youngsters encouraged to play the sport? One look at the state of the past Olympic heroes of hockey in India and more recently the way Dhanraj Pillay was dealt with by the IHF, does not augur well for the image of the sport. One may argue that similar treatment has been meted out to some of the most respected players in Cricket (e.g.: Sourav Ganuly & Rahul Dravid) and yet the game continues to flourish. However, one must also note the significant difference in the monetary incentives between the two sports. In the last Asian games where Hockey figures as a prominent sport, each Indian player got approximately INR 1000 for every goal scored by them. Contrast that with the riches of the Indian cricketers and the hockey players will seem to be in a state of penury.

Unfortunately Hockey has ended up as a means for the aspiring players (from poor background) to land high paying jobs.

Are the Indian Hockey Players slothful? Hockey is perhaps closest to soccer in terms of the skills and professionalism required to be successful. Most definitely one will not see an Inzamam ul Haq (the not so athletic cricketer from Pakistan) playing hockey at any level of the sport. This essentially means that modern hockey requires high level of fitness, professionalism, and a scientific approach.

The Indian team is more often than not on the back foot because of its slow starts that allows their opponents to have their noses ahead very early in the game. If not that, then unfailingly it will throw away its advantage towards the end of the game because the players do not have the fitness levels required to sustain the energy levels. The criminal offence in Hockey of missing penalty corners is resultant of the primitive methods adopted to coach the players. Despite the fact that the Indian players are highly skilled, they are unable to play unencumbered by the internal politics of the management. Imagine doing the rope trick in a circus without the safety net.
The Olympic debacle will mark watershed for our National Game. The question is whether the sport will bounce back as Indian Cricket did after the World Cup debacle last year or will we be writing an obituary for the sport in the upcoming World Cup? What a shame that will be!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 11th, 2008 (I migrated from blog.co.in)