MHF sure of breaking even

12/03/2002

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) are busy balancing their books right
now, but they are confident of breaking even as far as costs for
organising the 2002 Kuala Lumpur World Cup are concerned.
Yesterday, MHF secretary S. Satgunam said that the ticket sales reached
RM2.5 million and after adding up their sponsors, they will break even.
"We lost some revenue after reducing the ticket prices midway through
the World Cup, but we are more than pleased with the fan turnout,
especially to support the Malaysian team," said Satgunam yesterday.
The Malaysian matches was what saved the MHF because capacity and near
capacity crowds turned up to watch the men in yellow.
The initial budget for the entire World Cup was set at RM5 million and
MHF had great difficulties in securing sponsors but, somehow, they managed
to scrape through.
"Most of the money went towards booking the Bukit Jalil Hockey Stadium
and also the hosting fee that we had to pay the International Hockey
Federation (FIH)," said MHF deputy president Tan Sri P. Alagendra.
The hosting fee paid to the FIH was RM500,000 while another RM500,000
was flight and accomodation expenses for the FIH officials, umpires, and
other officials for the World Cup.
Meanwhile, Satgunam also revealed yesterday that the Asian Hockey
Federation has agreed in principle to organise a yearly tournament in this
region to revive the sport.
"We (AHF) held a meeting during the World Cup and decided that is is
time that Asia has another tournamant so that teams can get more exposure
and make a concerted push to get back into the elite circle," said
Satgunam.
The tournament has yet to be given a name but Pakistan have agreed in
principle to host the first edition.
"After Pakistan it will be rotated among the top five hockey playing
countries in Asia," said Satgunam.
The five Asian countries in the World Cup - South Korea (fourth),
Pakistan (fifth), Malaysia (eighth), India (10th) and Japan (12thh), are
the likely candidates to host the new tournament on a rotation basis and
this is the first step that the AHF have initiated to bring back Asia's
glory days.
AHF will also give away the Most Promising and Player of the Year awards
to their men after the Asian Games in Pusan, Korea.
"It is time that the AHF recognise their own players and motivate them
to do better at international level. Players who do exceptionally well in
the Asian Games this year will be rewarded duly," said Satgunam.
The new awards came about after the FIH failed to recognise Asian
players during their awards ceremony held in Kuala Lumpur during the World
Cup.
The MHF and other Asian countries snubbed the FIH awards and later in a
meeting, decided that drastic changes needed to be made if the Asian
countries want to see their players get due recognition.
jugjet@nstp.com.my
(END)