Umpires Board strikes Nur Insafi

THE Malaysian Hockey Federation Umpires Board (MH FUB) yesterday strongly condemned Nur Insafi club pres ident M. Thaitchana over his statement on their umpires, calling it malicious and unprofessional.
Thaitchana had said that his team is being victimised by umpires in the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) Premier Division matches, and if the MHF does not bring in foreign umpires next season, he will not field a team.
“As far as the MHFUB is concerned, the umpires appointed in the Premier League are the best available in the country, with a good reputation and with International standings with the FIH.
“The statement by Nur Insafi Club President (Thaitchana) at this late stage of the tournament lacks attitude, is ma licious and very unprofessional,” saif MHFUB chairman Amarjit Singh.
Thaitchana, who is also Nur Insafi coach, has hired 16 foreign players for the MHL, but after seven matches, they have only one draw and six defeats to show.
The coach had said that he has spent RM500,000 on the foreign players but the umpires have been dictation who wins: “We have been playing against 13 players, including two umpires, who dictate which team should win the match,” Thaitchana had said.
“After discussions and feedback from the other five teams, it has been accepted that the standard of umpiring in the Premier League has been up to mark as expected.
“The issue of biasness does not arise at all as all appointed umpires are neutral and have no personal agenda or interest in any of the teams.
“As such, hiring or appointing foreign umpires in this tournament does not arise at all,” said Amarjit.
“As the President of Nur Insafi has confessed in his statement that his team played most of their matches in rain which was not favourable to his foreign singings and that his players performance has been very poor, the umpires should not be made scapegoats or victims of their failure because of nature and poor performances at this late stage of the tournament,” added Amarjit.
Meanwhile, Nur Insafi will be without Pakistan penalty corner flicker Imran Warsi for the last three matches, as he went back on Monday.
Nur Insafi will play Maybank today, and UniKL-Ibil to morrow, and it looks like another uphill exercise for them at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru..
League leaders Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club, after a shock 1-1 darw with Maybank last weekend, will be looking to collect maximum points against UniKl-Ibil and Sapura.
TODAY: Tenaga Nasional v Sapura (4.30pm), Maybank v Nur Insafi (6.30pm), KL Hockey Club v UniKL-Ibil (8.30pm).
TOMORROW: Nur Insafi v UniKL-Ibil (4.30pm), Sapura v KL Hockey Club (6.30pm), Tenaga Nasional v Maybank (8.30pm).
All matches at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor Baru.


STANDINGS

P W D L F A Pts
KLHC 7 6 1 0 25 8 19
TENAGA 7 5 0 2 19 7 15
MAYBANK 7 3 3 1 14 9 12
SAPURA 7 3 2 2 15 10 11
UNIKL 7 0 1 6 2 19 1
NUR INSAFI 7 0 1 6 8 30 1

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