THE International Hockey Federation (FIH) has consented to the 8th Asia
Cup being played in two groups, even though there are only seven
participating teams.
This was revealed by Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) secretary general
Tan Sri P. Alagendra yesterday.
"Normally when there are only seven teams, the format is one group. But
the FIH has consented to two groups for the Asia Cup, which I believe is
a first," said Alagendra, who attended the AirAsia title sponsorship
signing in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
Group A has four teams, while Group B has three teams in the Asia Cup.
The new fixtures were also released and will see Malaysia keep their
opening match against South Korea, then play Bangladesh and wrap up the
fixtures against Japan.
Oman were initially in Malaysia's group, but withdrew and were replaced
by Sri Lanka, who also withdrew later, leaving AHF with no choice but to
host a lopsided tournament.
The Asia Cup champions will receive a direct entry into the 2010 New
Delhi World Cup.
"There are still a few more issues to be ironed out. India are the
World Cup hosts, and if they win in Kuantan it is still not clear if the
second placed team will receive the ticket to play.
"We will work it out soon with the FIH and make an announcement later,"
said Alagendra.
Meanwhile, the MHF also launched its website yesterday and the address
is www.malaysianhockey.com.my.
Meanwhile MHF and AHF have agreed to give the Asia Cup rights to a
website operator to stream matches live on a pay-per-view basis.
The website operator will not be paid for this venture, instead, it
will share its earnings in the pay-per-view with MHF. The operator, at
www.hockey-asia.com, also receives the rights of hockey matches held
under the MHF banner like the Azlan Shah Cup and the Malaysia Hockey
League.
