Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF)

he official name of the international body that oversees hockey is a French name - Fédération Internationale de Hockey (FIH). This name reflects the fact that the FIH was founded in Paris, by a Frenchman (Paul Léautey), who was also the first president of the organisation.

The official name of the national body that oversees hockey in Germany is Deutscher Hockey-Bund (DHB). The official name of the national body that oversees hockey in Netherlands is Koninklijke Nederlandse Hockey Bond (KNHB).

The Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) was founded in 1925, with British Army Col. Bruce Turnbull as the first President of the Indian Hockey Federation. Till Independence, India competed in the Olympics as British India, under the British Star of India flag.

86 years later, with the Government of India mediating a merger between the Indian Hockey Federation and Hockey India, it is natural to come up with a name that is more representative of the country. Hockey Bharata, or Bharatiya Hockey or Bharat Hockey come to mind.

On the topic of the name of the merged hockey entity, some have asked "Would it not be better to have India than Bharat in the name, as the world hockey fraternity associates the sport with India since the 1920s?"

A quick history lesson here. Two years before the IHF was formed in 1925, on a different continent (South America), in a different sport (football), the national body for Brazilian football was formed in 1923. It's official name is Confederação Brasileira de Futebol (CBF).

The world football fraternity has been associating the Beautiful Game with Brazil for decades, but nobody question why their federation has Brasileira instead of Brazil in their name. Similarly, no one will question why the national hockey body of the country has Bharat and not India in its name.

Look around at the distinctive names of the football leagues in Europe - Le Championnat (France), Bundesliga (Germany), Serie A (Italy), Ere Divise (Netherlands), I Liga (Portugal), Primera Division (Spain) and so on.

Therefore, let's go with either Hockey Bharata, or Bharatiya Hockey or Bharat Hockey for the name of the merged hockey governing body in India.

imbus has announced the holding of World Series Hockey event, with 176 players from 9 countries assigned to 8 city-based Franchises and playing a total of 61 matches over the course of a 5-week season (15th December, 2011 - 22nd January, 2012).

In this context, the FIH should introspect and reflect on the following:

Statutes and Bye-Laws

What are the FIH statutes and bye-laws that make World Series Hockey an unsanctioned event? Were they put in place before World Series Hockey was announced or after?

If these statutes and bye-laws were put in place after the World Series Hockey was announced, do they have legal authority to be retroactively binding on players?

If these statutes and bye-laws were put in place before the World Series Hockey was announced, are these laws so inviolable, and is the FIH so inflexible, that the FIH would rather ban events like World Series Hockey rather than amend its laws.

What is the legal validity of the March 31 cutoff date, for the FIH to declare that players who signed before that date can participate in the event, but players who signed after that date cannot participate?

Private League, Private Body

Does the FIH have any legal right to bar a private body (Indian Hockey Federation) from organising a private league (World Series Hockey)?

Based on the legal interpretation of 'Restraint of Trade', does the FIH have the authority to ban hockey players for trying to earn money based on their hockey skills by participating in a private event?

Does the FIH use different standards for Europe and different standards for India? What is the difference between the Euro Hockey League (sanctioned) and World Series Hockey (unsanctioned), and why does this difference matter?

Leagues in Other Sports

The world governing body for basketball, FIBA, in response to the ongoing lockout in the National Basketball Association (NBA) put out the public statement:

"In view of our role to promote basketball worldwide, we support any player wishing to play the game, wherever and whenever. We do so while taking the interests, rights and obligations of all parties into account"

Now let's apply the above statements to hockey. Does the FIH agree with the following statement: "In view of our role to promote hockey worldwide, we support any player wishing to play the game, wherever and whenever. We do so while taking the interests, rights and obligations of all parties into account."

If the FIH does not agree with the above statement, what are the interests, rights and obligations that make World Series Hockey an unsanctioned event that players will get penalised for participating in?

Prize Money

Nimbus is investing US$ 56.5 million in the event, with US$ 3 million in prize money and incentives. Players will earn as much money in 5 weeks in India as what they would earn playing an entire season in Europe.

Has the FIH organised any event that has offered so much prize money? For instance, how much prize money did the FIH award to the teams that finished 1, 2 and 3 in the 2010 Hero Honda World Cup held in Delhi? How much of the sponsor's money went into FIH coffers, and how much went to the players in the form of prize money?

The motto of the FIH is Fairplay, Friendship, Forever. Where is the Fairplay and where is the Friendship in preventing 176 hockey players from taking part in a US$ 56.5 million event, with US$ 3 million in prize money, that the FIH has not and can not organise on its own?

imbus Sport has called for pitches from advertising agencies for conceptualising and running a campaign for World Series Hockey. The brief given to them was that the communication plan should be about building a national hockey brand.

So what exactly is the product for which a 360-degree marketing campaign is going to be built. Here are some questions for Nimbus to reflect on:

Timeshare Product

Which real-world company operates for 5 out of 52 weeks in a year, and shuts down operations for the rest of the year. That is exactly what World Series Hockey is - one of many limited-duration events in the annual hockey calendar. Once World Series Hockey is over and done, players will move on to the next such league/tournament.

No amount of 30-second promos can gloss over the fact that player-team associations in a timeshare league are temporary and non-unique in nature. It is difficult to have year-round fan loyalties or sustain viewer interest or buy promotional merchandise for artificial teams in a timeshare league.

World Series Hockey is not the NBA - the duration of the NBA season is 9 months in an year (October - June) and defines the sport of basketball in USA. World Series Hockey is not the English Premier League (EPL) - the duration of the EPL season is 10 months in an year (August - May), and defines the sport of football in the United Kingdom.

World Series Hockey is more of a timeshare product, jostling for space with the Euro Hockey League, Continental Events and National Events, in a crowded hockey calendar. In a single year, a player can play for a World Series team at one point in time, then for another league (EHL, MHL) at some other point of time, then play for his country in an international tournament, then play for his state in the National Championship, and then play for his employer in a domestic tournament.

No matter how we spin it, World Series Hockey is just one of many events in an year. All the marketing rupees that will be poured on branding World Series Hockey could as well have been spent on branding Euro Hockey League instead, and the result would have been the same - both are essentially club-level tournaments of temporary, private, non-exclusive mix-and-match teams.

League Quality

World Series Hockey will comprise 40 foreign players and 136 Indian players. Did somebody get the numbers wrong here? Should not the ratio be the other way around - 40 Indian players and 136 foreign players? Does India, ranked #9 in the world, really have 136 internationals who can play world class hockey?

The overseas segment of World Series Hockey will have players from world #1 Australia, #2 Germany, #3 Netherlands, #5 Spain, #6 South Korea, #7 New Zealand and #8 Pakistan, all ranked higher than India. Countries ranked #1 through #8 are limited to 40 players overall, and a maximum of 5 foreign players per team. On the other hand, 9th ranked India has 136 players in the league, with 16 or more Indian players per team!

What is the logic behind such a team structure? How can one brand an inferior quality product? On any given day, the quality of play in the Euro Hockey League will be superior to that of World Series Hockey.

Franchise in World Series Hockey is expected to spend 7 crore in the first year, and a whopping total of 215 crore over 15 years.

For 4 of the 8 Franchises that have to bid (the remaining 4 are invited Franchises), 215 crore will be the base price of the Franchise.

So what exactly is the business model of the league that the Franchise are willing to spend hundreds of crores of rupees on? The Franchises should introspect and reflect on the following:

Limited Duration Ownership

A World Series Hockey team has a short shelf-life. It is active for 5 out of 52 weeks in a year.

A World Series Hockey team is not a permanent team. It is a collection of players who have temporarily come together to make some money. Once the World Series Hockey event is over, they will go back to their regular day jobs.

Franchises are supposed to spend their marketing rupees to create affinity programmes to build a fan base - for teams that exist for 5 weeks in an year! No amount of marketing can sustain fan loyalty without a corresponding product on the field.

Artificial Player-Franchise Association

In the Olympics, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games, a player is a resident of the country he represents. In the national hockey championship or National Games, a player is a resident of the state he represents. In domestic tournaments, the player is usually a full-time employee of the organisation he represents (e.g., Indian Oil, Air India, Railways, etc.).

In contrast, World Series Hockey players do not live in the city they represent, nor are they employees of the Franchise that they represent. They are short-term contractors of temporary teams who get together for 5 weeks in an year to make some money.

The irony is that for an Indian player to represent a Franchise, he would first have to get a No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from his real world employer, who will then 'loan' him to the Franchise for 5 weeks. The Player-Franchise association in World Series Hockye is not natural, is temporary, and is sustained entirely by Marketing.

imbus Sport will be floating a tender for the television rights for World Series Hockey. It expects to make between 90 crore - 120 crore from the sale of television rights for five years. The League is to be broadcast in 30 countries.

So what exactly is the sports property that the television networks will be bidding on? Here are some points for the television networks to reflect on:

The Ratings Game

Nation vs. Nation contests will always deliver higher ratings than Club vs. Club contests in any given sport. An India vs. Pakistan, or England vs. Australia, or Netherlands vs. Germany hockey contest will have a natural rivalry and high television ratings that does not require 30-second-promos to sustain.

Note that the television viewership of the jam-packed India-Pakistan hockey match on the opening day of the 2010 Hero Honda World Cup was comparable to the viewership of the India-Sri Lanka cricket ODI matches in 2009.

There are three criteria that will maximize hockey television ratings both in India and abroad:

• The event should be hosted in India
• The event should feature national teams, not artificial/temporary teams
• The matches should be official internationals of record, not private club matches

The World Series Hockey event is meeting just one of the above criteria - that the event is hosted in India. It is inconceivable that the very networks that showed the Hero Honda World Cup live - Fox Sports (Australia), SuperSport (South Africa), NOS (Netherlands), Teledeportes (Spain), ESPN Sur (Argentina), etc. - will show the World Series Hockey package of matches, just because 1 or 2 players per team are from the networks' home countries.

And what are the players in the World Series Hockey playing for? Is an Olympic medal at stake? No. Is an Asian Games medal at stake? No. Is a Commonwealth Games medal at stake? No. Is the country's pride at stake and will the country's national anthem be played when they win the tournament? No. Is the City's pride at stake? No. The association of players with the Franchise City is incidental and temporary.

Let's not lose perspective that at best, World Series Hockey matches is a scaled-down product that features private club matches played by mix-and-match teams, with nothing more at stake than bragging rights for the Franchise owners.

Return on Investment

A Times Group survey of 18-22 year olds, commissioned during the Delhi Commonwealth Games, revealed the following about the Indian youth's sporting interests.

• Most watched sport by India's youth - Cricket (68%), Football (22%), Tennis (5%), Motorsport (4%)
• Most common sport played in college - Cricket (45%), Football (20%), Table Tennis (11%), Badminton (10%)

Two generations of Indian have grown up without knowing what it means to be a world champion in hockey.

The bidding television networks have to confront the reality that there is no mass following and no television exposure for Indian hockey and its stars, across any and all age groups, and they need to do look at their Return on Investment before bidding crores of rupees on television rights.

The Bangladesh Analogy

In hockey, India is ranked world nos. 9. In cricket, Bangladesh is ranked world nos. 9. India is to world hockey what Bangladesh is to world cricket - there is a complete lack of international accomplishments in either case.

In the last 3 decades, India has not even entered the semi-finals of any Olympic hockey tournament. In the last 3 decades, India has not even entered the semi-finals of any World Cup tournament. In the last 3 decades, India has won 0 Champions Trophy medals.

Is India the present Asian Games champion? No, that title belongs to Pakistan. Is India the present Asia Cup champion? No, that title belongs to South Korea. Has any Indian ever won the FIH World Player of the Year award. No. And here we are, loading World Series Hockey with 136 Indian players.

The proposed World Series Hockey in India will have as much appeal to global hockey fans as a hypothetical cricket-based IPL in Bangladesh, with franchises in Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox's Bazaar, Sylhet, and other cities, and with 136 Bangladeshi cricketers and 40 foreign cricketers playing in the league.

Photograph courtesy Balbir Singh Sr.

he Photograph of the Month for August 2011 is of an Officer and a Gentleman - Balbir Singh Sr. This photograph was taken 50 years ago, in 1961, when Balbir Singh Sr. was a Deputy Superintendent of Police in Jalandhar.

Balbir Singh Sr. joined Punjab Police in 1945 as Assistant Sub Inspector, and was posted in Ludhiana. Balbir Sr. and his newly married wife Sushil opted to stay in the police quarters adjoining the Sadar Police Station in Ludhiana, as it was safer in those violent days when the entire subcontinent, especially Punjab and Bengal, were in turmoil. The police quarters were very basic - a single room, meant for constables, with no electricity.

An year later, India got its independence, along with the catacylsmic event of Partition. A new country got created on the basis of religion - it comprised two parts West Pakistan and East Pakistan, separated by 1,000 miles of India.

The following is taken from Balbir Singh Sr.'s autobiography 'The Golden Hatrick'

In my police career, I have seen human emotions in the raw, resulting in murders, rape, arson and loot. In particular, the year 1946-47 was marked by terrible riots that rocked Punjab in the wake of Independence.

We had almost hourly calls to investigate fires, killings, abduction and loot, both in the far-flung areas of cities and in the nearby villages. People were at each other's throats.

Man had lost faith in man, and suspicion was the order of the day. Were it not for the goodness of my loved ones, I would have lost faith in mankind completely.

Partition left the nation divided of talent in every field. In sports, hockey was particularly affected, and we in Punjab were the hardest hit. The 1947 National Championship in Bombay was the last time a team from undivided Punjab would play in India. On our return to Lahore, my friends Shah Rukh, A. I. S. Dara, Aziz and Khurram all stayed back in Lahore and adopted the colours of the new nation.

In 1962, after 16 years of illustrious service with Punjab Police, Balbir Singh Sr. got a promotion to Director of Sports, Government of Punjab.

Shanti Mary with the Arjuna Puraskar, awarded to V. J. Peter in 1967
Photograph courtesy K. Arumugam of Stick2Hockey.com

elhi-based Nehru Hockey Tournament Society will present a purse of 2 lakh to financially struggling Shanti Mary, wife of triple Olympian, the late V. J. Peter.

This was an initiative of K. Arumugam, founder of Stick2Hockey.com, who brought this to the attention of Kukoo Walia in the Nehru Hockey Tournament Society.

Inside-right V. J. Peter, known for his superb dribbling skills, ball control and play making, was the backbone of the Madras Engineer Group (MEG) hockey team, and represented Services in hockey tournaments. MEG had a formidable forward line in hockey, comprising Peter, Samuel, Manuel, Thangaraj and Govindaraj.

Mary is presently surviving on pension from MEG. She earlier used to receive 2,000 per month from the Central Government for the Arjuna Puraskar that Peter got in 1967. But that pension stopped once he died thirteen years ago.

Shri Arun Subhashchandra Yadav, President of the Nehru Hockey Society and former Minister of State for Sports also announced that the 71-year old Mrs V. J. Peter, who now lives in Chennai, will be honoured in Delhi on 29th August, 2011 next month on National Sports Day.

"V. J. Peter was an extraordinary hockey player. He represented India in three Olympics (1960, 1964, 1968) wining a Silver, Gold and Bronze respectively. Since he died 13 years ago, his wife Shanti Mary has been struggling to manage her family of five children. We are happy and duty-bound to extend a helping hand to her to live a honourable life", Yadav said.

He also further said that the Society will make further efforts to collect contribution from other sources. Fans and well wishers who wish to help Shanti Mary can send their contribution to the Jawharlal Nehru Hockey Tournament Society savings bank account no. 10038196347 at State Bank of India, Connaught Place Branch.

Yadav also thanked sports historian K. Arumugam for bringing the plight of Shanti Mary to the Nehru Hockey Society's knowledge.

Dileep, wife Meera, and son Jayesh

he Wall of Indian Hockey, Dileep Tirkey, has made his debut in an Oriya film, Toro Moro Katha Heba Chup Chap (You and I will Talk Silently) . The film, which has received rave reviews, is directed by R. N. Mohanty, and the script writer is Susant Dasthat.

Dileep plays a silent but strong elder brother, who sacrifices everything to ensure his sibling becomes the chief minister of the state.

Says Dileep, "I am not the hero in the film. The hero is a boy from a poor family. The hero meets with an accident near my car. I take care of him and educate him and help him realize his dream of getting into politics. The boy later becomes the Chief Minister of the state."

"Filming was a completely different experience. On the hockey field, we are used to sweating it out without bothering about how we look, how the hair is, what we are wearing. The first time I faced the camera was something new," says Dileep.

Acting is not the only thing occupying Dileep's time, post-retirement. Apart from being a Hockey India observer, Dileep is also coaching kids from poor families by bringing them together in Bhubaneswar on an ad-hoc basis.

Dileep is also the brand ambassador for Bhubaneswar Jaguars, one of the teams in the Orissa Premier League (a cricket event inspired by the IPL), and has to appear for promotions and advertisement shoots.

As for his acting career, Dilip is clear he doesn't want to make it full-time. "I wanted an experience, I have got it. Maybe, if I get another chance and it feels good, I might do it. But for now I am devoted to giving back to hockey."

he August 2011 Visitor of the Month is Dr. Shankar Hariharan, an Orthopaedic Surgeon, who wrote the following to BharatiyaHockey.org:

Hockey, particularly Indian hockey, has been my lifelong passion. Having followed the past fortunes and recent misfortunes of Indian hockey, I am amazed and appalled that the Indian hockey authorities have not got their act together.

Lets not forget that hockey is still our National Sport, and while I don't grudge our cricketers the crores of rupees they earn, surely we can drop a few pennies to hockey to provide some incentive for youngsters to follow this game.

Statistics by B. G. Joshi

he August 2011 edition of Fun with Numbers lists all countries who have won medals at the EuroHockey Nations Championship.

The 2011 EuroHockey Nations Championship, for both Men and Women, is being held from August 20-28 at the Warsteiner HockeyPark in Monchengladbach, Germany.

EuroHockey Nations (Men) Medal Winners

Germany has the undisputed best record in EuroHockey Nations Men's Championships, having won as many gold medals (6) as all other European countries combined.

4 EuroHockey Nations Championships have been held in this millenium (2003, 05, 07, 09), in which 4 different countries have won the gold. This shows the parity that exists in European men's hockey over the past decade.

EUROHOCKEY NATIONS MEDAL WINNERS - MEN

Country	Tournaments	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Best Finish
Germany	12	77	60	8	9	283	82	6 Gold - 1970, 78, 91, 95, 99, 2003
Netherlands	12	77	57	10	10	297	97	3 Gold - 1983, 87, 2007
Spain	12	77	44	22	11	214	117	2 Gold - 1974, 2005
England	12	78	47	17	14	210	105	1 Gold - 2009
Russia/USSR	7	49	20	22	7	93	108	1 Silver - 1983
Belgium	11	70	30	28	12	157	177	1 Bronze - 2007

EuroHockey Nations (Women) Medal Winners

Netherlands has the undisputed best record in EuroHockey Nations Women's Championships, having won 7 gold medals in the 9 editions held thus far.

Only once has the same nation won the Gold in both men's and women's EuroHockey Nations Championships in the same year - that was Netherlands in 1987.

EUROHOCKEY NATIONS MEDAL WINNERS - WOMEN

Country	Tournaments	P	W	L	D	GF	GA	Best Finish
Netherlands	9	57	50	4	3	269	31	7 Gold - 1984, 87, 95, 99, 2003, 05, 09
Germany	9	57	43	12	2	188	50	1 Gold - 2007
England	9	57	36	15	6	164	51	1 Gold - 1991
Spain	9	57	29	22	6	112	80	2 Silver - 1995, 2003