The Hindu : An emotional return for Sahara as sponsor

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 11, 2003

Sport

Sport - Hockey

An emotional return for Sahara as sponsor

By S. Thyagarajan

Chennai July 10. Indian hockey coming in to the fold of Sahara-Parivar to enjoy the benevolence and munificence of a confirmed sports enthusiast like Mr. Subrata Roy is happy tiding indeed for everyone. Even as the nuances of the contract are being worked out to wrap up the reported deal for a period of eight years, it is difficult to remain unaffected by the vicissitudes and the return of Sahara to the hockey scene.

Understandably, the financial commitment is unlikely to be disclosed, as is the case with many major sponsorship ventures. There is a definite impression of substantial inflow from the high profile corporate entity, which also supports the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

Minutes after the deal was struck in Lucknow on Wednesday, Mr. Subrata Roy, chief of the Sahara-Group, told The Hindu how delighted he was to be associated again with hockey. He termed it as an `emotionally yours' response and hoped some good would come for the sport. He did not wish to dwell much on the circumstances under which the previous partnership had to be terminated.

Mr. K.P.S. Gill, president IHF, echoed a similar sentiment and agreed that the IHF would not have lost Sahara in 1995 but for the FIH stipulation which was needlessly stretched by the then treasurer, Mr. Phil Appleyard, forcing the walk out of the sponsor.

It may be recalled that in 1995 during the Indira Gandhi tournament, Mr. Roy, lined up a fleet of Maruti Esteems at the National Stadium as a reward for the best players in the competition. But Mr. Appleyard invoked a few clauses in the FIH statutes on amateurism and announced that the players could not directly receive any gifts or cash.

To cut the long story short, that sounded the death knell to the prosperous deal, long before Mr. Roy ventured into the glamour world of cricket.

In a recent chat with this writer at Hamburg, the president of the International Hockey Federation, Ms. Els van Breda Vriesmann, expressed surprise over the issues that surfaced in 1995. She was clear that the FIH was never governed by any stipulation of players getting benefits from sponsors. However, the situation is totally different now with FIH itself roping in two global sponsors, Robobank and BDO, last year.

Any how, the wheel has now come a full circle with Sahara, which has established its commitment, care and concern to sport in general and cricket in particular, despite facing several irritants, consciously created by the International Cricket Council by not prohibiting its logos to be displayed at the ICC Trophy in Sri Lanka and during the World Cup in South Africa.

Sahara even pulled out of cricket briefly though, but returned to fulfil the hopes and aspirations of the cricket stars who are benefiting by the millions even after failing to win the World Cup. Although one IHF source claimed that Mr. Roy fixed `no limit' to the deal, the question that props up inevitably relates as to how the administration would handle such a high profile sponsor to ensure that the benefits reach every segment, and, most importantly, the players.

After all, it is player's performance that has contributed significantly in bringing the sport into such sharp focus recently thanks to the enormous publicity generated by the media after the twin triumphs in Australia and Germany. It is true the players received cash awards after the Sydney victory but that they do deserve something more should not go without being said. After all, it is the incentives that make the players work harder for getting results.

The eight-year deal with a sponsor, whose enthusiasm for hockey is quite pronounced - Mr. Roy has agreed to have the preparatory camp at Lucknow for the Champions Trophy - gives the Indian Hockey Federation enormous scope to revitalise the entire structure.

While the international calendar is more or less fixed till the Olympics at Athens next year, there is a strong case to strengthening the domestic structure. Even the President, Mr. Gill admitted that the National Championship for the Rangaswamy Cup has not been held for a few years owing to international commitments.

But unless the fibres of domestic circuits are muscled well there is every reason for the top getting atrophied over the years. The IHF has also abandoned the Federation Cup put on boards in the mid-Fifties.

Perhaps this is the right juncture for the IHF to think of putting in shape a strong, well-oiled and sophisticated National League as in football and volleyball. In countries like the Netherlands, Australia and Germany, and even in Malaysia, the NHL is the cornerstone for development.

They provide such intense competition in Netherlands and Germany, whose domination on the international scene is well documented, that they do not even accept an invitation to participate outside during that period.

For instance, Australia turned down the invite for Azlan Shah citing NHL as the reason. The German HF refused to entertain the Indian request for a few Tests after the Hambur Masters as not to disturb the Bundestag. It played a one-off Test at Duisburg before.

The NHL in these countries includes several foreign players who only add colour to the competition. Pakistan's stalwart, Sohail Abbas, figures in German league. As many as 11 Argentine players take part in European leagues. Even here, Jude Felix, Jagbir Singh, Dhanraj Pillay, and Mukesh Kumar, to name a few, have participated in France, UK, Germany and Malaysia. Understandably, it is not easy to launch an NHL instantly, but the IHF should frame a committee to study the feasibility of such an exercise and get into action sometime early next year before the Olympic qualifier.

A high profile NHL involving eight to 10 to teams playing in centres like Jalandhar, Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Bhopal with adequate TV and media exposure will definitely go a long way in enhancing the image of hockey as well elevating the quality all round.

As the next step, the NHL can also feature a dozen or so players from Europe, South America and Asia (Pakistan, Korea and Malaysia) to make the NHL the showpiece of the domestic structure.

Once this is ensured the IHF can even recast the National format into two tiers as done by the BCCI for Ranji Trophy. With as many as 40 teams on the list, the National in the current pattern is unwieldy and totally colourless, apart from being a colossal waste of time, energy and money. The junior programmes too should be suitably revised as to make it more attractive for the youngsters to take to the sport.

The return of Sahara opens a bright new vista for Indian hockey and its administration. How well this bonanza is planned to be utilised to enliven the hockey scene is what the sports fraternity will watch from now with abiding interest.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Sport