Nothing could be more embarrassing for a country than its national hockey players boycotting their training, that too weeks before it is to play a major tournament like the World Cup. The main provocation for this rare protest was the failure of the authorities to redress the financial demands of the players, but there were many other maladies too. The overall picture is of the neglect of the game and players, while the organisers play petty games of one-upmanship. Talking of the financial demands first, it is really scandalous that nobody has cared to give them match fee for even international tournaments like the Olympics, World Cup, Asia Cup, Asian Games, FIH tournaments, Champions Trophy and test matches. They have even been denied the logo money. The Indian Hockey Federation had promised them cash incentives for winning a medal in recognised international tournaments. This promise too remained only on paper.
This neglect of hockey stars has gone to such ridiculous lengths that some of the players from Oil India and BPL who get Rs 20,000 to Rs 30,000 per month when they play for their departmental team, get virtually nothing when they join the national camp and play for the country. There could not be a better way to discourage and humiliate these sportsmen. No wonder, the players are now demanding, besides incentives, fixed salaries citing that the Pakistan Hockey Federation pays Rs 50,000 a month to its players. Even otherwise, there is serious factionalism among the hockey administrators as well as coaches. Players are suffering because of it and at times become pawns. Now that the rumblings are out in the open, it is necessary to address the issues thoroughly. Instead of showing their anger over the strike by the players, the hockey bosses should gauge the extent of their frustration which forced them to take this extreme step. The issue had flared up in 1998 also when seven players, including Dhanraj Pillay, Mukesh Kumar, Ashish Ball and Sabu Varkey, who won gold at the Bangkok Asiad demanded match fees. The then IHF president KPS Gill simply threw them out.
Source: The Tribune, Chandigarh, India.
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