Player strike over, now for elections...

THIS is what India has lost, the big picture...Balbir Singh, Triple Gold Olympian. Field Hockey. India. London 1948, Helsinki 1952 and Melbourne 1956.

By S. Thyagarajan

Chennai: Those praying to see light at the end of the tunnel in the confrontation between the players and Hockey India over the payment dispute must have heaved a sigh of relief. The camp will resume on Thursday.
Six days after the players suspended training for the forthcoming World Cup — and after an avalanche of words, written and spoken, in the media — a solution emerged on Wednesday, thanks to the timely intervention of the official sponsor, Sahara Pariwar, releasing Rs. one crore to be disbursed to the campers.
All that happened during the week was unprecedented in more ways than one. Never before had the players demonstrated their solidarity over a cause with such intensity. What must probably have heartened them was the consensus across the country, triggering favourable responses from chief ministers, industrialists and, most importantly, former internationals.
Now, there is realisation that for far too long the players had been taken for granted and cheated on the promises made.
Statement made
It is undeniable that the events leading to Hockey India threatening to form a new team, or shutting down the camp, shocked many.
With only weeks left for the World Cup in New Delhi, the players should now see the bottom line. They have, quite positively, made their statement to the nation on the injustice done to them. But the time has come to get back into rhythm. Compensating for almost a week’s loss of training is not going to be easy. The task before them is gigantic, given that the expectations are now pegged at a new level than before the conflict.
Stop-gap
The solutions found, at best, are temporary — just enough to defuse the crisis, a knee-jerk, panic reaction, so to say. The issue of payment needs to be examined in depth, and a clear-cut agreement should be in place in the quickest possible time.
The money aspect is now the focal point of players wanting to don national colours. Pragmatically evaluated, not all demands laid on the table by the players can be conceded.
The generosity of the sponsor should cover all layers of players; and a sizable proportion earmarked for development, meeting medical expenses and even creating a pension scheme to help the old and indigent players.
It is not that these are being talked about now; they have been in the air for years receiving little or no attention.
In the midst of the crisis that pushed the administration to despair, the subject of HI elections on February 7 has been relegated to the back burner. If that comes about, the new office-holders who will be in power for a four-year term will be compelled to tackle a host of problems with tact and imagination.
Double-edged sword
Seen as helpless in the face of a mounting media assault backing the players, the administration runs the risk of facing a flare up any time.
“Such demands can easily spread to other disciplines too,” warned a senior administrator. Clearly, courting players with monetary rewards is a double-edged sword. The lines of limit can easily get blurred.
In this boiling situation, it is worth debating whether the FIH observer, Antonio von Ondarza, should have got himself involved.
It was beyond his brief. This senior FIH administrator could well have maintained a neutral stance rather than air his views — as well meaning as he was — to the media.
The whole episode also makes one wonder about the expenses in flying a big delegation of officials to Pune for talks that eventually failed. Does not HI’s claim of a resource crunch sound hollow?
The Hindu

Strike at tail end

After days of deadlock, Hockey India and players resolved their crisis today. The players have agreed to join the training camp from Thursday. On its part, Hockey India said it will pay the dues to the players.
In the morning, after team sponsor Sahara pitched in to give Rs one crore to the team, a compromise was struck between the striking players and Hockey India officials.
IOA President Suresh Kalmadi will announce the decision in Pune.

Hindustan Times

For Dummies: How to host a World Cup

Comment By Jugjet Singh

THE International Hockey Federation (FIH) must be kick ing themselves silly, as they struggle to come to grips with what is happening in India, who will host the World Cup on Feb 28-March 13.
India players went on a strike last week because they did not receive payments promised since 2004, and after six players had a three-hour discussion with Hockey India, they agreed to resume training.
Hockey India, the ad-hoc committee governing the sport in the run-up FIH insisted elections before the World Cup, had told the six players who attended the meeting that they did not have the money to disburse.
The six , Rajpal Singh, Prabhjot, Sandeep Singh, Arjun Halappa, Tushar Khandekar and Sardara Singh then went to break the bankrupt news to their team-mates, and the agreed truce, but the rest of the team did not share their sentiments, and the team went back into strike mode.
Welcome to India, Mr president of the FIH Leandro Ne gre.
The Spaniard must be feeling quite giddy right now, as not only is the hosts’ team in a fighting mood, but also the proposed elections on Jan 29 has been postponed because Hockey India could not sort out affiliations, and time is now not on their side to send out a 21-day notice to call for elections.
FIH wrote a stern letter to Hockey India and the Sports Ministry, asking them to be above board on affiliation, and the concern is so great that: “FIH vice president Antonio von Ondarza will be present in his observer’s capacity as Hockey India goes into a huddle to sort out its affiliation mess and take stock of the government guidelines before finalising its election date,” reported Zeenews.com.
Negre had said, when met at the Junior World Cup co- hosted by Johor Baru and Singapore that a fair election is a must before India can host the World Cup. That was in the middle of last year, and the mess is still there a month before the tournament starts.
Welcome to India, Mr president, Negre.
India coach Jose Brasa, also a Spaniard said to The Hindu: “I am not from India. I am not the one to decide whether the players should be paid or not? If everybody agrees they should be paid, then they should be paid.
“The players have been waiting for a few years for this. I think the last time they were paid was in 2004.
The Spaniard then expressed his feelings for the players: “But let me tell you that the players are very sad. They have been crying. This is not a good situation for them. It is a difficult situation for all of us. It is not for me to say if they have chosen the best time to make the protest.”
The demand is simple, a graded payment system, fixed salaries, insurance cover and pending dues.
But the situation is tricky, as the players have demanded 3 lakh each before they pick up their hockey sticks, and their skipper Rajpal told PTI that they will not go back to camp until their demands are met.
Across the Punjab border, Pakistan’s Parliament fined members of its national hockey team 200,000 rupees (RM7,800) after photographs surfaced on FaceBook of them with a female liaison officer at the Champions Challenge I in Argentina last month.
Pakistan lost to New Zealand in the final, which cost them the Champions Trophy ticket, and the pictures were taken at an official players night at the end of the tournament.
The pictures are all over the Internet for the public to judge. The Pakistan officials and players are guilty of nothing more than being close to a liaison officer, nothing obscene, in Spain, but warranted a Parliamentary rap in Pakistan.
Welcome to Asia Mr President.

India back on 'no pay, no practice'

AGE CORRESPONDENT

New Delhi: All the talk between Hockey India and the six senior players over the non-payment of sponsorship money came to nought on Sunday when the 22-member squad continued to boycott training at the Balewadi Complex in Pune.
Miffed over Hockey India's "false promises and overlooking of the players' grievances", the players said they will stick to their stand of "no pay, no practice".
On Saturday, skipper Rajpal Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh, Tushar Khandker, Arjun Halappa and Sardara Singh had held closed door meetings with Hockey India president A.K. Mattoo at a city hotel here. The national body managed to convince those present saying it was in debt, and would need atleast 20 days to sort out the payment issue. All seemed hunky dory with skipper Rajpal even telling the media that the team would resume training from Sunday.
Things took a turn for the worse though when the players reached Pune and discussed matters with their teammates, who felt that "Hockey India had made a mockery of their demands by adopting a very convenient stance."
Team sources suggest that only two of the six players present in Saturday's meeting gave in to Hockey India's pressure tactics even as the rest stuck to their demands.
Said a senior player from Pune, "It is a fight for our rights. Hockey India says that it does not have funds, but we are not asking for astronomical amounts. A regular payment of Rs 25,000 per month is nothing after Sahara has paid it in crores."
The players have now demanded a direct meeting with team sponsors Sahara India to resolve the matter.
Sahara India paid the players a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 in 2004 only. In subsequent years, the players have been paid on a tournament-to-tournament basis (courtesy funds provided by the government), with almost no financial inputs from the erstwhile Indian Hockey Federation or the current administrators.
It is now an open secret that most fringe players prefer to play for their companies than train in the national camp, a move that has hampered Indian hockey since long.
"Playing for India is our pride, and all of us have spent many years without proper monetary gains, diet or even staying conditions. But it is high time that the authorities look into the matter. Graded systems and incentives for performances are our two demands," said striker Arjun Halappa, a sentiment echoed by the rest.
The players' tough stance has put Hockey India into further trouble, which rushed Maharashtra Hockey Association secretary Ekram Khan to help sort out the issue. Khan held a late night meeting with the players, but to no avail.
"Yesterday, we had such a meeting with them where everything was discussed and a solution was reached. Now they come out saying they are going on strike again. This is blackmail," said treasurer Narinder Batra, who was furious with the boys.
Rajpal, when contacted, said, "We are not going back to the camp unless our demands are met. It was a marathon meeting that went on and on. We returned and conveyed to our team members what HI had offered us. But they felt it was too insignificant an amount and there was no question of ending the strike."
National coach Harendra Singh refused to take sides, saying all he wanted was the players to resume training as soon as possible.
FIH observer to attend HI meeting tomorrow
Meanwhile, FIH vice president Antonio von Ondarza will be present in his observer's capacity as Hockey India goes into a huddle on Monday to sort out its affiliation mess and take stock of the government guidelines before finalising the election date.
HI elections were slated for January 29 but it got deferred after the interim national body failed to issue a 21-day notice, necessary to be given before the poll date as per its constitution, due to the pending affiliation matters.

The Asian Age

Hockey India claim to be rupee-less

So the Hockey India does not have money, they are paupers. Factually correct. Now the questions.

...It will take time for the same players to understand how millions rupees will come into play when the question of capturing seat of power, comes. That time none of the 'paupers' the players met will seem and behave like be paupers.



s2h Team

When players and officials sit across table, we have seen umpteen number of times in the sports annals of India, officials will always come out triumphant.
Same happened now. Nothing unusual happened yesterday -- despite unusual belligerent players build up and media frenzy -- when the much hyped meeting between Hockey India officials and six players met to sort out the issues which the players raised before the media in Pune.
Utilizing a sponsors invite to be in Delhi, without spending a single pie – when players revolt came a couple of months ago at least one Indian official flew to Pune, which cost some money – from its pocket, smart Hockey India solved the problem across dinner table.
How was the ‘miracle’ happened.
The officials showed the players their bank accounts to impress upon the players that they don’t have money as the media world would have led them and teh world to believe otherwise. In fact, they convinced the players they are in debt.
So the Hockey India does not have money, they are paupers. Factually correct. Now the questions.
If you don’t have money, if you don’t know how to bring money, why don’t you bring a businessman of your choice – I certainly don’t mean JB Roy alone – not just to get money from him, but also to corporatize the sport. Then why a politicians run the show with a couple of stooges?
Here comes the question, the vexed one that the Indian sports is living with it without answers.
All politicians want to keep businessman outside, Mallays and Thapars failed in football for instance, and intentionally want to keep their sports poor.
Now the Hockey India, before that ad-hoc committee, and all are almost two years in the office. If they did not have money why can't they say sportingly, sorry, let someone competent come and manage the show.
Why in such scenario of pauperism, Kalmadi did not want to leave hockey? Why, like in the 40s, you have to take loan to run hockey when the vast corporate world is waiting for you. The FIH has done far better than the HI.
Citing Sahara case with respect to already signed a contract till 2011 won’t do beyond a point Because, team sponsorship is not the only thing available for hockey in the vast Indian market. (One thing clear here is LSM under-sold hockey, hooked it to 8 years at a throwaway price to Sahara who seem unconcerned about hockey expect seeing their logos on the players’ jerseys).
Two years since the Kalmadi group is in the power of hockey, it is faily a long period to do something.
Punjab Government wants to spend a fortune on hockey, Punjab Gold Cup was just beginning, but the cronies in the HI did not even give them affiliation.
If your attitude is not inclusive, if your attitude is to remain a permanent pauper, what else can others do?
Prepare code of conduct and be wary of opening newspapers next day, fearing a negative report on their own malfeance, and put off phones, cannot help run hockey.
Neither the players nor the HI served the cause of hockey, the whole issue is waste of time.
Players perfectly timed it on their holidays, which we in the site have already mentioned in our first report.
Society at large supported the players cause but only lip service. SRK’s tweet is another joke. Comparable only to a photograph wherein the six players and HI officials showing victory sign yesterday.
What is there to celebrate, permanent paupers?
Rajpal and Co will come to know the cost of their strike in the coming months.
It will take time for the same players to understand how millions rupees will come into play when the question of capturing seat of power, comes. That time none of the 'paupers' the players met will seem and behave like be paupers.
Money will also come if the officials have to attend a meeting -- another term for jaunt -- even if that venue is Argentina or America -- an official certainly went by executive class for the FIH congress.

Stick2Hockey.com