CHENNAI: The Indian men’s hockey team is ranked fifth in the world, and the women’s team ninth. But when it comes to financial power, it is fast gaining top dog standing.
The International Hockey Federation’s chief executive Thierry Weil has admitted as much while explaining the decision by the FIH to hand India hosting duties for back-to-back World Cups.
Asked to explain the decision, which essentially undermines the very essence of a global team competition, Weil admitted during a conference call with members of the Indian media that given the fact India brings in the money, it was important to keep them ‘part of your sport’.
“We want to do more development (take the WC to other parts of the world) but as with all things in life, when you want to do more development, you need to generate more revenues. And how can you do that? It is by making countries like India part of your sport,” the Frenchman, who was earlier with FIFA, admitted.
“It is healthy if we have India competing and it helps to have India in our sport, with the size of the country, the population, and the number of hockey lovers.”
With bids coming in from other countries as well, Weil opinined that the FIH would be ready to take the World Cup to other nations in 2026 or 2027. “We had some good bids, and we have had Malaysia in the bids too. This will now lead us into 2020, where we would like to discuss where the World Cup of 2026 (or early 2027) is going,” he opined.
“From a commercial perspective, we need long-term planning, and we can start moving depending on how quickly we can talk of 2026 and 2027.”
He also spoke on next year’s FIH Pro League, when India will make their debut (they open against The Netherlands on January 18 and 19).
The participation of India in the second edition of the Pro League, will help the FIH break even with the yearly competition, Weil said.
“It is a new tournament, and it requires financial investment, not only from FIH but from each national association. We have done our homework, and we know how we are going to plan out seasons two, three and four. The good thing is we will achieve a break-even in season two, and then seasons three and four will be about making positive (gains).”
Weil noted that that the inaugural Pro League had maximum viewership from India on digital platforms despite the team missing the tournament.
Asked if the Pro League, where the top nine teams play each other twice a year between January to June, would be able to draw in crowds for what would largely be two-leg bilateral games, Weil said, “For me, the Pro League is like a quarterfinal or semifinal of a major event like World Cup every weekend. It’s now our responsibility to make people understand that these are not just friendly games,” he said.
Weil said that the next junior World Cup, which was last hosted and won by Harendra Singh’s India in 2016, is scheduled for December 2021. Both the men’s and women’s events will have their host nations announced within the next month.
