On Friday, eight teams took turns to sweat it out, one last time, a day before Hockey India League version 2.0 kicks off at the Birsa Munda Stadium here, officially the largest for hockey in the world. While some of them went through their final calculations and combinations as the Indians and foreigners in the ranks trained together, others hoped the plans on paper would seamlessly translate to performance on field.
While the on-field success of HIL will only be known later, the league hasn’t had the smoothest of starts off it. The pre-tournament coaches’ media interaction, while largely positive, did have some interesting insights, specially on the large-scale withdrawals by foreign players for various reasons. Although most of the coaches insisted that they were satisfied with the final squad assembled by the various teams, they also admitted that the withdrawals necessitated changes in planning.
“Of course there is a basic line-up in your head when you go for the auction. I think for the foreign players, if they put in what is the minimum fee they expect and make their time free for the entire tournament here, then they have an obligation to come. Now they only have to put in their names and there is no obligation, that has to change. The good thing is that all the franchises have the same problem, at the end we are happy with the players we have,” UP Rudras coach Paul van Ass said.
Interestingly Paul’s son Seve, part of the gold-winning Dutch side at the Paris Olympics, was picked up UP and is amongst the players to pull out but the Dutch coach simply shrugged, implying he had little to do with Seve’s decision.
England coach Paul Revington, meanwhile, admitted that the timing of the HIL affected participation. “I have a different perspective. The international calendar is very busy and the HIL, while it’s fantastic to be reintroduced, came into the calendar quite late from a planning point of view. All the coaches probably anticipated that there were going to be moments when players realised they had a lot of competition in December-January and with clubs. That said, there are enough international players to fill each position so all of us are flexible and adaptable,” he added.
At last count, 21 men and eight women overseas players had pulled out, despite Hockey India categorically stating that anyone refusing to come after being bought at the auction for non-medical reasons will be barred for three seasons. Clearly, late introduction is only one of the reasons, which also falls through given that the FIH had informed everyone about the allotted exclusive window.
Hockey India has insisted that the primary focus of the HIL will be on Indian players but there is no denying that you need foreign presence to make it truly world-class and competitive.
“I think it’s important to understand that the hockey calendar is very full but I also understand that the welfare of players has to be considered, both through the calendar and for this tournament. For most foreign players, the Pro League finished on December 15-16, so they have not had much of a rest time either. I made the decision to allow our foreign players to spend Christmas with family and join late. I don’t think HI will have a tournament during Diwali, it’s similar. The previous editions started in January so that allowed foreign players some private time. That said, I think it needs consideration from HI in the programming going forth,” Kalinga Lancers’ Strategy Director David John suggested. Kalinga, in fact, are the only team to have no pull-outs in either of its teams.
The player withdrawals is not the only concern for Hockey India. The lack of enough sponsors and not enough marketing and publicity for the league beyond the bare minimum is clearly visible and franchises are non-committal on its sustainability. Central sponsorship and media rights form a major chunk of revenue in any franchise-based league and while no one is willing to go on record, the two will be critical for HIL to survive long term. With Doordarshan as broadcast partner, the hopes of media rights revenue is not too high while Hero as the title sponsor is the only major central sponsor on board as of now. Everything else is being done only at individual team levels.
“After cricket, hockey ticks every single box that it takes to become a successful league. It has the connect, the fan base and now also international success. It is also the one sport apart from cricket where the Indian team is among the best in the world. Logically, it should be easy to sell. We are aware there will be teething troubles and optimistic it will eventually be successful but for that, HI needs to constantly listen, review and recalibrate going forward,” is the cautiously unanimous opinion among the teams.
Sources also say that some of the franchises are yet to pay the full fee for the first year, raising questions on both their long-term viability and interest in the league although HI officials have refuted the same. Off record, though, teams admit that not everyone is in for the long haul. “Even in IPL teams disbanded and changed ownership. It is not easy to stay invested for 8-10 years not knowing when you can break even. It needs both – deep pockets and a long-term vision – to do that,” two of the team investors admitted.
At the ground level, the city of Rourkela itself is a study in contrast when compared to the 2023 World Cup. While the city was plastered with banners, hoardings and media blitz back then, there is hardly any buzz this time around. People on the streets are unaware of the HIL and those who are, do not have any idea about the kind of tournament it is. “Forget hoardings, there is hardly anything on social media or Youtube also. During the World Cup, everyone knew it was happening. Not this time,” they say. The hoardings are few and far between with even the immediate vicinity of the stadium devoid of any kind of publicity. For a hockey competition in a city in Odisha – called the spiritual home of hockey by Revington – that doesn’t augur well.
Hockey India officials have constantly insisted that the revamped HIL was two years in planning before it was launched. For the sport’s sake, one hopes the plans pay off.
Published – December 28, 2024 12:10 am IST
