News for 10 February 2021
All the news for Wednesday 10 February 2021
Faisalabad clinch Quaid Hockey trophy
LAHORE-Faisalabad stunned Lahore 4-0 in a high-profile final to clinch the 1st Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship 2021 trophy here at Pakistan's National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
The third position went to Bahawalpur which defeated strong Sargodha 1-0 in a nail-biting match. Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani, Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh and PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa were the guests of honour at the final. Other notables present on the occasion were Javed Chohan, Hafeez Bhatti, Manzoor Junior, Kh Junaid, M Saqlain, Rana Mujahid, Lt Col (r) Asif Naz Khokhar and hockey enthusiasts.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti awarded a cash prize of Rs 300,000 besides a glittering trophy and gold medals to title winners Faisalabad division hockey team. Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani gave away a cash prize of Rs 200,000 and silver medals to runners-up Lahore division hockey team followed by Bahawalpur team, which received a cash prize of Rs 100,000 and bronze medals from PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa.
Lahore division captain Hannan Shahid grabbed two cash prizes (Rs 25,000 each) for being declared the best player of the tournament and the scorer of most goals (11) during the tournament. Faisalabad’s Hamza Shahbaz was adjudged as the best goalkeeper and earned a cash prize of Rs 25,000 while the honour of man of the final went to Faisalabad division captain Ali Raza.
The Nation
Faisalabad shock Lahore to win Inter-Division Hockey Championship
LAHORE: Faisalabad shocked Lahore by 4-0 in a high-profile final to clinch the title of First Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Division Hockey Championship 2021 at National Hockey Stadium on Tuesday.
The third position went to Bahawalpur who defeated strong Sargodha in a nail-biter by a narrow margin of 1-0.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani, Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh and PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa were the guests of honour at the final.
Director Admin Javed Chohan, Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti, PHF Chief Selector Manzoor Junior, Head coach of national hockey team Olympian Khwaja Junaid, Olympians M Saqlain, Rana Mujahid, Secretary PHA Lt-Col (retd) Asif Naz Khokhar and a large number of hockey fans were also present to witness title clash.
Taimoor awarded a cash prize of Rs300,000 besides a glittering trophy and gold medals to Faisalabad. Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Fuad Hashim Rabbani gave away a cash prize of Rs200,000 and silver medals to Lahore.
Bahawalpur got a cash prize of Rs100,000 and bronze medals from PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa.
The final match was started aggressively by both the teams. They attacked each other’s goalpost repeatedly but failed to score any goal during the first 19 minutes. However, Faisalabad’s Ghulam Mujtaba opened the scoring through a field goal in the 20th minute. Faisalabad’s forward M Sajid struck another field goal after just eight minutes gap to strengthen his team’s position.
Lahore tried their best to counter the attacking game of Faisalabad but they failed mainly due to their weak ball control techniques. Lahore’s penalty corner department also badly failed to click during the title decider. They got as many as ten penalty corners during the match but failed to convert any of them.
Faisalabad’s penalty corner specialist M Usman wrapped up the match when he converted two penalty corners in 54th and 60th minutes. Overall, they got five penalty corners.
In the 3rd position match, Bahawalpur edged out strong Sargodha by 1-0. Both the teams fought well but failed to score until 59th minute when Bahawalpur’s Ali Raza (shirt number 8) netted the only goal of the match through a field effort.
Lahore division hockey team captain Hannan Shahid grabbed two cash prizes (Rs25,000 each) for being Best Player of the Tournament and the Scorer of Most Goals (11).
Faisalabad’s Hamza Shahbaz was adjudged the Best Goalkeeper of the Championship and pocketed a cash prize of Rs25,000. The honour of Man of the Final went to Faisalabad captain Ali Raza.
The News International
Pak junior hockey team’s training camp in Karachi from Feb 12
KARACHI: Pakistan junior hockey team’s training camp would be held from Feb 12-23 in Karachi at Abdul Sattar Edhi Hockey stadium, the PHF announced on Tuesday.
A PHF spokesperson said that the training camp would be comprising 14 players keeping in mind the preventive measures and SOPs of COVID 19.
The team is to participate in the Junior Asia Cup 2021 from July 1-10 in Dhaka. The Asia Cup is the qualifying round for participation in Junior Hockey World Cup, which will be held either later this year or early next year in India.
It has to be mentioned that the training camp is being held after a gap of five months. The training camp of national junior players could not be held on regular basis due to various reasons, including financial constraints, international cricket matches and PSL in Lahore and COVID 19.
Pakistan is lagging behind other countries for the past few years and one of the reasons is the lack of participation in international activities. The junior team could not participate in the World Cup in India in 2016 due to Indian conspiracies.
Pakistan senior team fell to 17th position in the world, the lowest in its history. One of the major reasons for this is that supply line of young, energetic, talented players was discontinued because of non-participation in junior hockey world cup in 2016.
This year, PHF tried to arrange bilateral series with strong hockey-playing countries but it could not be done because of COVID-19.
To address the problem of juniors’ lack of match experience, PHF has planned 12 matches between Pakistan seniors and juniors.
But PHF has failed to announce the schedule of these matches although it announced one month ago that the matches would be held in three provinces.
The following players will participate in the training camp. Rana Waheed (WAPDA), Moin Shakeel (Sui Southern), Gazanfar Ali (Sui Southern), Waqar Ali (Goalkeeper, WAPDA), Mohsin Khan (Pak Air Force), Umair (Mari Patroleum) Aqeel (Mari Pateroleum), Abdullah (Goalkeeper, Mari Pateroleum), Ramzan Khan (WAPDA), Mohibullah (WAPDA), Murtaza Yaqoob (Mari Pateroleum), Muhammad Anjum (WAPDA), Hanan Shahid (Lahore), and Ali Raza (Faisalabad).
Olympian Danish Kaleem will be the head coach of Pakistan juniors.
The News International
Final SA U21 Men African Qualifier Squad Announced
The South African Hockey Association has today announced the final South African U21 Men’s squad. The team will take on rest of the continent at the African Junior World Cup Qualifiers in Ghana in March.
The U21 side will take on the likes of the hosts Ghana, Egypt, Zimbabwe and Namibia at the Theodosia Okoh Hockey Stadium in Accra. The top two teams from the tournament will qualify for the U21 World Cup set to take place in India later this year.
The South Africans will be looking to not just qualify but regain the title as the top Junior Hockey nation in Africa after Egypt had been victorious in 2016 in Windhoek. Of course, this tournament will feel very different with extensive COVID Protocols in place to ensure player safety.
Guy Morgan has been given the captaincy and will be tasked with leading the team on the field along with co-vice captains Peter Jarvis and Jared Campbell. All three players were part of coach Sihle Ntuli’ s victorious team at the African Youth Games in Algiers in 2018. They were also joined in that gold medal team by Taine Bird and Mpumelelo Maphumulo who are in the final 18 for the current tournament.
Sam Mvimbi and Brad Sherwood have just completed a senior national outdoor camp and that experience will be massive for the team, while fully capped indoor players Aiden Tun and Marvin Simons will also contribute to that regard.
Coach Sihle Ntuli is excited about the upcoming challenge.
“It hasn’t been easy to get down to the final 18 due to the quality in depth of our extended squad. The players have all really committed to the process over the past 14 months both on and off the field. I am excited to get into the competition with them. As a group we are looking forward to a challenging campaign in Ghana.
The players showed massive growth from a technical and tactical approach at our previous camp and this gives me confidence in the limited contact time we have. Some players have had success on our previous travels, and I will look to their leadership in tough moments. The Olympic Squad members will bring a lot of guidance to the group too”.
The South African Hockey Association wishes the team best of luck and success for the tournament!
SA Hockey Association media release
M-League, MHL to begin next month
KUALA LUMPUR: The wait is almost over for football and hockey fans in Malaysia now that the Malaysia League (M-League) and Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) are set to be held next month.
This comes after Senior Minister (Security) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob announced that the government had agreed to allow teams in the M-League, MHL and Sepak Takraw League (STL) to resume training through the sports bubble concept and in accordance with strict standard operating procedures (SOP) from Feb 15.
Malaysian Football League (MFL) chief executive officer Datuk Ab Ghani Hassan, in thanking the government, said the M-League would start on March 5 as scheduled.
He said that apart from the two rounds each for the Super League, Premier League and Malaysia Cup competitions, they would also have to make space for the Asian Champions League, involving Johor Darul Ta'zim (JDT) as well as the AFC Cup, which will see the involvement of Kedah Darul Aman FC and Terengganu FC.
On top of that, the World Cup 2022/Asian Cup 2023 qualifiers, involving Harimau Malaya, are expected to be postponed from next month to June while the FA Cup competition has been cancelled.
"We will hold a virtual meeting tomorrow with all the teams' CEOs to discuss the matter in detail," he said today.
Meanwhile, Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal said the MHL would be held from March 11 to April 10 now that the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT), which was supposed to be held in Bangladesh next month, has been postponed.
"The men's league will begin on March 11 and the women's on March 17. We will also form a special task force committee with the National Sports Council (NSC), National Sports Institute (NSI) and Sports Commissioner's Office next week to discuss the SOP involved in more depth," he said.
Sepak Takraw Association of Malaysia (PSM) president Datuk Seri Ahmad Ismail, meanwhile, said a decision on the STL would be announced tomorrow after discussions with the committee members.
Meanwhile, Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican, through his Facebook posting, explained that the reopening of the sports sector required training venues and athlete movements to be controlled according to the sports bubble model, while the athletes' accommodation would have to follow the 'Camp Quarantine' and 'Home Quarantine' SOP that had been set.
"I still hope that further consideration can be given to enable the mass sports industry, such as operators of sports facilities and fitness centres, to be given permission to operate. We are carrying out the final studies and, hopefully, we will announce them before the Chinese New Year celebration this week," he said.
New Straits Times
Upcoming Salt Lake hockey International stadium gets Rs 20 cr boost
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a Rs 20 crore grant for the upcoming international hockey stadium inside the Saltlake Stadium Complex. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Monday announced a Rs 20 crore grant for the upcoming international hockey stadium inside the Saltlake Stadium Complex.
The 6,500-capacity stadium, to be spread over an area of approximately three acres, is proposed to be built near gate number one of the Saltlake Stadium and is likely to come up within a year.
“I’m hereby granting Rs 20 crore for the hockey astro-turf,” Banerjee said at the Khelashree programme, an annual felicitation of the state’s sportspersons, at the Netaji Indoor Stadium here.
She also made a slew of announcements, including a pension scheme of Rs 1,000 for the former sportspersons of the state. “We have about 2,000-plus ex-players who are above 60 years. As a gratitude, I want to announce a state pension scheme for them with Rs 1,000 per month,” she said.
Under an upcoming scheme, the state government will now sponsor about 100 athletes.
“I will tell (Sports Minister) Aroop (Biswas) to form a committee of experts who can identify, for instance 100 sports persons, who will be fully sponsored,” Banerjee said.
“They don’t have to worry about their training or taking part in a competition. They will be fully sponsored by us under this new scheme,” she added.
Banerjee further highlighted how her government facilitated football club East Bengal’s entry into the top tier Indian Super League after roping in investors Shree Cement.
“After Mohun Bagan’s entry, everyone asked why can’t East Bengal play in the ISL… I also want Mohammed Sporting to play in the ISL. I want all the clubs from Bengal to make waves.
“Football teams of Brazil, Germany are not built in a day. Football, cricket, tennis and all Olympic events, I want Bengal to make headlines in all disciplines,” she said.
Banerjee further announced Rs 1 lakh grant to 26,000 clubs and 861 coaching camps of the state.
While she virtually inaugurated the Kishore Bharati Krirangan with the I-League match between Churchill Brothers and Real Kashmir, Banerjee added that the state has spent about Rs 400 crore in building 34 stadiums.
“Continuing our priority for sports, we have built 17 youth residential academies, 34 stadiums, 703 mini indoor stadiums, six swimming pools, 4000-plus multi gymnasium and also developed more than 400 grounds. Overall, we have spent about Rs 400 crore.”
She further said West Bengal now has four sports academies — in Khardah (football), Jhargram (archery), Kolkata, Saltlake (tennis and table tennis). Also a fifth one, of swimming, is coming up,” she added.
The Awardees
Khel Samman: Atar Ali, Himashree Roy, Mitrabha Guha, Paramita Roy, Goutam Dey, Riya Mondal, Nilna Shil, Salma Majhi, Tapan Pal, Jayashree Das, Mehuli Ghosh, Priyabata Sadhu, Sahida Khatun, Jeet Chandra, Soham Sadhukhan, Sahir Ali Mallick.
Bangalar Gourav: Ruma Roy, Pinki Pramanik, Dr Laxmi Narayan Nayak, Surya Sekhar Ganguly, Runa Basu, Sagarmoy Sensharma, Subhomoy Das, Sumanto Ghosh, Amit Bhadra, Amit Das, Babu Mani, Debasis Mukherjee, Deepak Mandal, Dulal Biswas, Prashanta Chakraborty, Pratima Biswas, Sandip Nandi, Debjani Samanta, Monaj Bera, Partha Pratim Sengupta, Kishore Kumar Patra, Debabrata Chatterjee, Bhagirath Samal, Mamoni Mondal, Tarak Nath Shaw and Mantu Ghosh.
Krira Guru: Smita Chattopadhyay, Tarun Saha, Amitava Ghosh, Biswanath Ghosh, Joydeep Karmakar, Bharati Ghosh and Mihir Ghosh.
Lifetime Achievement: Bir Bahadur Chettri.
Stick2Hockey.com
Hockey’s National Participation & Engagement Plan launched
Hockey Australia is excited to launch the National Participation & Engagement Plan (NPEP). The NPEP derives from what the broader hockey community believes the sport needs to focus on over the next two years.
The NPEP was drafted after consultation with the State/Territory Member Associations (including MA CEO’s and staff) and over 40 community members representing local clubs, associations and competition bodies. The plan was co-designed collaboratively with Sport Australia.
The NPEP centres on Sport Australia’s nine Participation Drivers. While inclusion is not a standalone Driver, it is an underlying principle that sits within each one. Hockey has a proud history of diversity and inclusion – accepting everyone, just as they are.
In addition to the meaningful and practical objectives led by Hockey Australia, templates will be released in a fortnight.
These templates will assist local associations and clubs record their current strategies against the Participation Drivers, as well as build plans aligned to them.
Member Associations will be the primary contact for local clubs and associations to request support in implementing grassroots actions.
Some of the NPEP objectives already been achieved. One is the establishment of the Participation, Engagement & Growth Network (PEG Network), which is made up of participation representatives from each jurisdiction.
The PEG Network will help progress the NPEP nationally by monitoring the progress of objectives and timeframes to meet the Measures of Success, which are realistic and achievable.
The representatives will be advocates for the constituents they represent and will be across what activities are currently occurring at the grassroots level.
“The next two years for hockey in Australia will be full of innovation and engagement,” said Michael Johnston, Hockey Australia GM - Strategy & Game Development.
“Resources to provide greater practical assistance and education in relation to the NPEP will be continually developed, and we will share and promote participation and engagement success stories from the hockey community.”
“The success of our sport relies upon the volunteers at grass roots level, and this plan is designed to help those volunteers, our state bodies, and Hockey Australia provide the best possible hockey experience to the community.”
Hockey Australia media release
Opening doors for greater equality in coaching
One of the core values of FIH is the concept of equality. Across the global hockey community the aim of the international governing body is to filter down the message that opportunities within the sport should be equally open to all. This includes all aspects and roles within hockey, from playing to coaching, to umpiring to administration.
One hockey organisation in England is intent on pushing equality through its coaching programme. The Norfolk Hockey Association (NHA), supported by England Hockey, has launched the NHA Coaching Community, with Coaching Girls as its first focus.
Mary Cheesman, who is Player Pathway coach and Norfolk Player Pathway Lead Coach for NHA, is leading the programme, which had its first session in January 2021. At that session 18 coaches, representing eight clubs across the county, came together to thrash out some ideas.
‘The first session was all about finding out what the issues were around females and coaching,’ says Mary. ‘On the one hand I was asking myself and the player pathway coaches more and more questions about how we are coaching our girls’ squads and how we can meet their needs while challenging them to be more experimental, creative and have the confidence to problem solve.
‘And then we needed to ask ourselves how we can encourage the players themselves to become Leaders and Coaches and ultimately the role models our young female players need. We want to enhance their coaching experience with a more diverse coaching body.’
As a female coach, working with players from school level through to representative level, Mary is more than aware of the paucity of female coaches working in hockey, particularly at elite level. However, a coaching programme to up skill the hockey workforce, was run by NHA and supported by England Hockey in 2019/2020. With more than 40 per cent of the participants on the course being female, Mary was convinced that this was something that could be developed and so the idea for the first focus of the Coaching Community was born.
Mary herself says she faced her own challenges as she worked her way up the coaching ladder from a volunteer/parent to a Level 3 coach.
“There were many times when I felt outside my comfort zone and vulnerable about my hockey knowledge compared to others on the course. There was a massive amount of work to do and a lot of travel. This was while I was working full time and had two young children. But I was resolute, supported by my husband, players, coaches, squads I coached, and my male mentor who got me through. These support networks were invaluable.”
The first session led to a raft of feedback and ideas and a follow-up is planned later this spring. NHA is planning a practical session in the summer for women interested in getting into or developing their coaching.
The importance of sessions such as the NHA Coaching Community – Coaching Girls is being recognised across the country, with many clubs and associations making their own plans. Mary is clear about the motivation behind her work.
‘Change is happening but there are still many barriers and stereotypes to overcome. Developing more female coaches is one strand of inclusion. Women still tend to have greater family responsibilities and, therefore, less time. And, there are not enough role models, especially at the elite end.
‘Female coaches can lack confidence in their experience, knowledge and other skills to put themselves forward, and the perspective of those recruiting and appointing in clubs and other organisations is still too narrow. However, women also have the responsibility to challenge and to change the norms. We must support a wider range of coaches coming into the sport, to enhance our coaching and consequently the coaching experience of our players. There are doors still to be opened.’
FIH site
“You can't handle the truth” – FIH Battle Key Hockey Voice
The FIH renege on a signed contract and attempt to silence the media
Ashley Morrison fronting the BTSport coverage on behalf of the FIH in London
Most people will be familiar with Jack Nicholson’s performance in “A Few Good Men” in which he utters the famous line, “You can’t handle the truth.”
While in the film Nicholson uses the line to justify behavior that led to the death of another man, when it comes to hockey the line could be taken literally.
As first featured in Hockey World News Edition 19 – The voice of English-born Australian Ashley Morrison has become one that is linked to the sport over the past ten years. However it appears that it will rarely be heard in the future.
Morrison has been involved in the media for over 30 years and for nine and a half years had a radio show in Perth entitled Not The Footy Show, and linked to that show a blog. Both have garnered a healthy following. When the radio station shut it’s doors Morrison opted to keep the show going as a podcast. Not The Footy Show is about all sport and shows Morrison’s depth of knowledge not just on athletes and events but also governance issues.
Rubbed up the wrong way
Some of his articles have clearly rubbed the Hockey establishment up the wrong way.
In July 2017 he broke the news that the Hockey India League would not be resuming in 2018. A story that cost him dearly. With contracts signed for him to once again commentate what ended up being the last Hockey World League Finals with Star Sports, he alleges that someone at the FIH stepped in and told the broadcaster that they could not use him. Incredibly the management at the broadcaster caved in to the request.
Now it appears that he is being shut out completely. One FIH staffer claiming that those at the top have proclaimed that he will “commentate hockey again over their dead body.”
In 2019 when the FIH launched its flagship FIH Pro League Morrison was the voice of the matches in Australia and New Zealand. As the tournament headed towards its conclusion in June he was booked by the FIH to commentate matches in Europe including the finals.
Anita McLaren: A different spot for hockey these days. Such a privilege and great experience to sit alongside the best commentator in hockey, Ashley Morrison
With flights booked to Europe and a roster in his possession he then received a phone call late one evening in Perth telling him that he would no longer be used.
The Call
“It was 10pm on a Monday night when I received a phone call telling me that I was no longer required. I asked what the reason was, and was told ‘there is no money.’ There was no request for me to negotiate or take a cut, I was simply told that there was no money.” Morrison advised. “With this news coming so late it was nigh on impossible for me to find other work in June, I asked what compensation they were offering in lieu of booking me, and me blocking off that time, and them now cancelling. I said I would be happy to take work over money.”
“The person I spoke to did not seem too keen to make such an offer, and so I gave them a deadline. I received an email almost three weeks later offering me the opportunity to commentate the Hockey Series Finals in India. The email stated that this was ‘to recognise your professionalism and dedication to FIH.’ Then once I accepted their offer I was sent a 15 page commentary agreement to sign. There were clauses within this agreement that I had issues with and so consulted my lawyer, who assisted me with suggested changes to key clauses. One clause in particular that was a concern to me, being a freelance sports journalist, stated that I could not write anything about the FIH, a National Association or any player for a period of 12 months!”
“The India offer was then withdrawn because I would not sign the contract, but I was waiting on them to respond in relation to the proposed changes we had requested. I am still waiting. I was told that if I did not sign it as it was I could not work, yet others have not signed it and continue to work.”
The email requesting the changes was sent on 19th April 2019. As yet Morrison has had no follow up from the FIH on trying to resolve the issue.
Meeting Face to Face
Morrison flew to Europe as he had paid for his flight already. He also attended the Finals in Amsterdam. During that time he met with the then head of Broadcast Chris Neilson to try and resolve the situation.
“Chris was very personable and said that he was unaware of a many of the issues, he said that he was not aware that I had been taken off the Indian tournament and promised to resolve everything. He then went on holiday and when he returned suddenly stopped responding to emails and phone calls, so my lawyer took over. They failed to have any response from the FIH from March 2020 until January 2021.”
So why would the FIH not wish to resolve such an issue? Here is one person who clearly is an asset to the game, and cares about it, and has the courage to raise issues. Is it that those at the top of the FIH are so precious that they cannot cope with justified criticism, that they can’t handle the truth?
Surely you would want to work through such an issue and resolve it to the benefit of both parties for the good of the sport?
Or is Morrison another victim of behavior that is unfortunately becoming all too familiar for those dealing with the FIH?
The Olympic Charter
The FIH lists in its statues in section 1.4 that the fundamental purposes of the FIH are: to promote and develop Hockey at all levels throughout the world, in accordance with the rights and freedoms of the Olympic Charter, and without discrimination of any kind, such as race, colour, gender, sexual orientation, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status;”
Surely by trying to gag a member of the media they are going against those statutes and also’ the rights and freedoms of the Olympic Charter?’
Sport, and hockey especially need people to stimulate conversation. The sport also needs good commentary. It, therefore, makes little sense to ostracize someone who clearly cares and promotes the game, even if they have differing opinions to the administrators.
The Follow up
Since going to press in Hockey World News Edition 19, we have received a response from the FIH, and in particular, CEO Thierry Weil, that reads:
Having read the article “You can’t handle the truth” published in the latest issue of Hockey World News, I have the following comments:
- It is highly regrettable – to say the least – that the subtitle of the article mentions “a signed contract”. The truth is the exact opposite: there did not exist any binding agreement between Ashley Morrison and FIH to commentate FIH Hockey Pro League matches in Europe in June 2019.
- Ashley Morrison has never been “shut out”, contrary to what is claimed in this article. The decision to no longer require Ashley Morrison to commentate the FIH Hockey Pro League matches in June 2019 was taken purely on the basis of an amended strategy for the newly-launched FIH Hockey Pro League. Indeed, as a responsible organisation, it is our duty to amend the course and shape of our events whenever necessary. A thorough analysis indicated that adjustments to the FIH Hockey Pro League were necessary in terms of operations and budget, in particular for TV-related matters. It was a difficult decision for FIH. Ashley Morrison’s expertise and passion for hockey is renowned globally. We do understand his frustration. However, the reasons are those explained above.
- The suggestion made on the cover of the magazine, in the subtitle of the article as well as in the last sentence that FIH attempts to silence the media or ostracizes people who have different opinions is groundless and pure nonsense! We’re engaging with anybody, including any reporter or blogger, even though we might have different views on some topics. Indeed, we believe in dialogue and explanation, not in closing our eyes to issues or “silencing the media”. We have numerous examples of that, but just to give you one: Ashley Morrison was one of the few reporters invited by FIH to attend a media roundtable with myself in Amsterdam in June 2019 …
Where is the truth?
It is sad to say, after receiving the above response for Thierry Weil, CEO-FIH, there were a number of emails sent back and forth between Hockey World News and the FIH to iron out the inaccuracies of the above statement, which have been proven factually incorrect. Further documents and files will be released in due course. And of course, if any response from the FIH is received, then that too will be posted immediately.
Hockey World News