he devil has begun to quote the scriptures.

Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) vice-president M. S. Balakrishnan told PTI that Olympian Mukesh Kumar "had not obtained permission from Indian Airlines (IA) or IHF for playing in the Malaysian league. The IA management has not taken to this kindly as greed is getting the better of such players."

That opened a Pandora's box for federation officials. K. Jyothikumaran, secretary of the IHF wrote to the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) and forced the recall of both Mukesh and his brother and defender Suresh Kumar. Satyanarayana, secretary of the Hyderabad Hockey Association told reporters that action would be taken against Mukesh Kumar's brother Suresh Kumar for playing in the MHL.

A willing partner in their crime was yet another official, MHF secretary S. Satgunan. He himself had 'taken action' against 10 Malaysians who were playing in Singapore by quoting from his version of the Hockey Officials Bible, "there is a ruling that forbids Malaysians from playing in leagues outside the country without the approval of the MHF. We will take action against those who flout this rule." Inspiring words indeed.

That's the difference in mindset between hockey officials (whose main job is to shuffle files from one table to another) and corporate houses like Tatas and Mahindras. Contrast the above scenario with Dhanraj Pillai's statement, "Mahindras have given me full freedom to play overseas or at home for whatever club I choose." Dhanraj recently toured Europe, playing club hockey in the Netherlands.

In any other profession, people switch jobs for better financial prospects. In any other professional sport anywhere in the world, players join clubs based on better financial remuneration.

Seong Tae Song, the top scorer of the 1999 Champions Trophy held in June in Brisbane, is representing a club in the German Hockey League. There are no brain-dead officials in Seoul crying hoarse that he should deliver an apology because he is not representing South Korea in the 4-Nation Tournament in Australia.

Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne has signed a 1 year contract with the English county team Hampshire for 150,000 pounds (about Rs 1.05 crore). This is the highest fee in the history of English county cricket. However, when Mukesh Kumar signs just a 8-week contract to play in Malaysia (September 4 - October 24), he is forced by the federation to come back.

Using the same yardstick as applicable to players, master bureaucrat Balakrishnan, secretary of the Indian Airlines Sports Control Board, has decided to set a personal example and will not take salary raises for the rest of his career. This was because greed was getting better than him.

here is money to be made in Indian sports, provided the sport is not hockey. We take 3 examples from 3 different sports to prove the point.

Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes shared $165,000 for coming runners up in the US Open doubles. Mahesh Bhupathi and Sugiyama shared $124,000 for winning the US Open mixed doubles. In 1999, Mahesh and Leander have each won more than half a million dollars.

Their itinerary for the remainder of this year includes the Shanghai Open, tournaments in Paris and Stuttgart and the World Doubles Championships in Hartford, Connecticut. There are no tennis federation officials lecturing them on the need to avoid foreign junkets and play more tournaments in India.

The Wills Sports Golf Tour has sponsored the Indian domestic circuit for this year. The tour will disburse Rs. 2 crores of prize money spread over 24 tournaments. Golf has thus become a lucrative profession for the top Indian players. A case in point - Vijay Kumar of Lucknow, who has earned Rs. 35 lakhs in prize money over the last 2 years - Rs. 19 lakhs in 1999 and Rs. 16 lakhs in 1998.

When football star Baichung Bhutia got a contract with a Division II football team in England, it was hailed as a milestone in Indian football. A news clip was shown on BBC featuring Bhutia as the first Indian-born footballer to play professional football in England. Luckily, there were no pig-headed football federation officials forcing Bhutia to come back to India and play in the South Asian Federation Games.

There can be money in Indian hockey too, provided we don't have blessed bureaurcats like Balakrishnan and his ilk lecturing Olympians on greed getting better than them.

double-leg 4-Nation tournament was held in Canberra and Sydney from September 16 - 26. Teams competing were Oceania champions Australia, Asian champions India, Pan American champions Canada and Asia Cup holders South Korea.

The Sydney leg was staged at Homebush stadium, which has been refurbished for the Olympics at a cost of A$ 15.5 million. The seating capacity has been enhanced to 15,000. The project was completed as early as August 1998 itself. The media centre can accommodate as many as 100 pressmen and women at a time.

The results of the matches of the Australian tour were:

Canberra Leg
Sep 16	Korea beat India 6-1	Baljit Singh Chandi
Sep 17	Canada beat India 2-1	Sameer Dad
Sep 19	Australia beat India 3-1	Sameer Dad
Sydney Leg
Sep 22	India beat Canada 3-2	Anwar Khan Deepak Thakur Gagan Ajit Singh
Sep 23	Australia beat India 5-3	Deepak Thakur (2) Mohammed Riaz
Sep 25	Korea drew with India 0-0
Classification
Sep 26	Canada beat India 5-3	Deepak Thakur (2) Dilip Tirkey

Australia retained the victorious champions trophy squad of Brisbane, while India disbanded the team and coach of the victorious Asian Games squad of Bangkok. Expectedly, Australia won the Sydney leg of the tournament, while India came last in both legs of the 4-Nation tournament.

The Australian women's team, which signed yet another sponsorship deal, this time with sportswear company Mizuno, trounced USA 4-0 to win the women's final. Mrs. Janet Howard, wife of the Prime Minister, John Howard, presented the gold medal to the Australian women's team. Other countries that participated in the women's event were China and Spain.

India had only 1 victory in the 7 matches of the double leg tournament. India scored only 12 goals in 7 matches, while conceding as many as 23 goals. The need for the recall of Dhanraj, Mukesh and Sabu in the forward line is obvious, while the recall of seasoned goalkeepers Ballal and Subbaiah is critical for India.

In their buildup to the Olympics, India has so far lost a test series to Germany, a test series to minnows South Africa, and has come last in both legs of the Australian 4-Nation tournaments. Yet, stubborn K. P. S. Gill is refusing to let better sense prevail for the sake of Indian hockey. He has ruled out any major shakeup in the side for the Olympic campaign.

''I think there is no reason to despair. We've never done anything great after our 5th place in the 1994 Sydney World Cup. Only juniors have done something and many of them are in this team. In contrast, the senior team did poorly in so many tournaments including the World Cup last year in Utrecht," he said.

Oil and Natural Gas Commission (ONGC) sponsored the Indian team's trip to Australia. The corporate house will be a major supporter in the Olympic campaign.

n India 'B' team had a 3-country African tour, playing matches in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Uganda.

In the 3-test series against Zimbabwe, India 'B' won the series 1-0. The visitors drew 1-1 in the first test, won the next 4-1, before playing out a goalless draw in the third.

This was followed by a 3-Nation tournament at the City Park Stadium, Nairobi, Kenya from August 31 - September 5. This tournament was held to celebrate the golden jubilee of the Kenya Hockey Union. The 4 teams in this tournament comprised an alphabet soup of India 'B', Kenya 'A', Kenya 'B' and Egypt. Kenya 'B' had to step in after Ghana withdrew from the event citing shortage of funds. The results were:

Date	Result	Scorers - India
Sep 1	India 3 - Egypt 3	Parminder Singh (2) Ajay Kumar - 2 goals
Sep 2	India 2 - Kenya 'A' 1	Senthil (2) Y. S. Rawat (52)
Sep 4	India 4 - Kenya 'B' 1

In the final of the 3-Nation tournament, India were level 1-1 with Egypt in regulation and golden goal extra time before losing 3-4 on penalties in the tie-breaker.

The Indian team ended their African tour with a 2-test series against Uganda. India 'B' won both matches 6-0. India last visited Uganda 30 years ago. The players and officials stayed in different homes during their stay in Uganda to mingle among the hockey fraterninty instead of the usual five-star accomodation.

Indian coach and former India forward Balwinder Singh picked out talented forward Parminder Singh as the find of the tour. Parminder accounted for 7 of India's 26 goals in the 9 matches played in the African tour.

efore the Kargil war between the subcontinent rivals, Pakistan were scheduled to take part in a 6-nation tournament in Chandigarh in October. Later in November, the Indians were supposed to visit Lahore to take part in the Asia Cup.

The Chandigarh tournament has been cancelled and India may not take part in the Asia Cup if it is held at Lahore.

IHF president K. P. S. Gill has asked for tighter security assurances from the Pakistan Hockey Federation, the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) before he could confirm India's participation.

Gill said, "We have sought from the AHF to postpone the tournament until we are able to play in Pakistan. The other alternative is to hold the tournament elsewhere. We are also awaiting the clearance from our government regarding our participation in the tournament."

If India stays away from the Lahore tournament, it would lose the right to take part in the 2001 World Cup qualifiers, and thus the World Cup the following year. In addition, it will also not be eligible to take part in the 2004 Olympic qualifiers as well.

Singapore is the standby team to replace India in the event of a pull out.

Cricketing ties between India and Pakistan are already suspended. The annual Sahara Cup cricket series between the two countries in Toronto was called off after India refused to play following Pakistan's intrusion in Kargil.

he Taj Group of Hotels and Tata Tea have signed a Rs. 10 lakh sponsorship deal with the IHF in its 'Go for Gold' campaign for enhancing medal hopes at the Sydney Olympics, as well as for funding the IHF's junior development programme.

ONGC also has promised a total sponsorship of Rs. 50 lakhs, of which they gave a Rs. 5 lakh cheque to IHF President K. P. S. Gill.

The managing director and vice-chairman of the Taj Group, R. K. Krishna Kumar, has promised further help to groom about 150 juniors.

Within the past year, the Tatas have sponsored Indian hockey to the tune of Rs. 70 lakhs! It started with a Rs. 15 lakhs sponsorship for the Asian Games gold medal winning team. The team's stay in Chennai prior to the games, and their stay in Delhi after their triumphant return, were both in the Taj Group of hotels.

This was followed by co-sponsorship of the 1999 Indo-Pakistan Hockey Series, for which Taj and Tata Tea gave the IHF Rs 15 lakhs. Pepsi was the other co-sponsor for the Indian leg of the series.

In keeping with their promise of investing in junior development, Tatas sponsored the 30th Junior National Hockey Championship held in June of this year. The sponsorship amount of Rs. 30 lakhs went into the organisational expenses for the 32-team championship. The Tatas gave all the participants track suits, caps, T-Shirts, tote bags and pouches. Teams reaching the semi-finals were given watches.

P. S. Gill has defaulted on payments yet again. Indian women's team captain Pritam Rani Siwach is unhappy with IHF chief Gill for not fulfilling his promise to pay Rs. 10,000 to each player of the women's team for winning the silver medal at the Bangkok Asian Games in December.

Gill should learn from the following who kept their promise (made at the same felicitation ceremony) and paid the women's team members: IWHF - Rs. 10,000 each to the players, and Delhi Chief Minister Smt. Sheila Dikshit - matching grant of Rs. 10,000 each to the players.

Pritam said, "Sheila madam has fulfilled her promise and we have received the money, but we have not heard anything from Mr Gill. Though we can't claim it as a right, we feel cheated."

As former coach Cedric D'Souza pointed out in his illuminating article for Rediff, entitled Promises and Lies:

"In 1994, after the Sydney World Cup, it was decided that the Indian players would get Rs. 25,000 for 1st place, Rs. 20,000 for 2nd place, Rs. 15,000 for 3rd place and Rs. 10,000 for 4th place. Gill did not pay anything.

Just prior to the 1999 Indo- Pak series, Gill agreed to pay the players Rs. 20,000 every quarter. Let us get our facts straight, the players received this money only once.

The actual money dished out by IHF over the past 5 years is as follows:

Year	Amount	Event
1994	Rs. 25,000	Prior to Asian Games - Hiroshima
1994	Rs. 25,000	Prior to World Cup - Sydney
1998	Rs. 1 lakh each	After the Asian Games gold
1999	Rs. 20,000	Prior to Indo-Pak Hockey Series

The moral of the story: promises once made must be kept. Rewards and recognition must be given when it is due. It is only teams which strike a good balance between national pride, sound structuring of the game and healthy remuneration that perform consistently at the international level."

he ONGC Indian Hockey Year Book, a compilation of the activities on and off the field in the last one year, was released in Delhi by V. N. Narayanan, Editor, The Hindustan Times, at a simple function held on September 2.

The book has been authored by Shanthi K Arumugam, who started the practice in 1995. The highlight of the book is that it comprises all the events and tournaments with their analysis. The articles and write-ups are well supported by statistics.

Profiles of current and former players can also be seen in abundance. A critical analysis of the current hockey scene may give some awkward moments to officials of the Indian Hockey Federation.

The ONGC-Hockey Year Book awards were also given to four players. Dilip Tirkey and Pritam Rani Siwach for 1998 and Lazarus Barla and Manjinder Kaur for 1997. ONGC gave a cash prize of Rs. 5000 to each of the award winners.

The first copy of the book was presented to Arjuna Puraskar winner and coach of the Bangkok Asian Games gold medal winning Indian hockey squad, Maharaj Krishan Kaushik.

he toughest men's continental championship in the world - the 8th European Nations Cup, took place from September 1 to 22 in Padova, Italy. As with the women's European Nations Cup which concluded last month in Germany, the grand prize was qualification for the Sydney Olympics.

The results of the pool matches were as follows:

Pool A	Netherlands	England
Sep 1	beat Poland 4-1	beat Russia 7-1
Sep 2	beat Ireland 5-0	beat France 4-1
Sep 4	beat Russia 6-1	beat Ireland 3-0
Sep 6	beat France 4-0	beat Poland 3-0
Sep 7	drew with England 3-3	drew with Netherlands 3-3
Pool B	Germany	Belgium
Sep 1	beat Italy 6-0
Sep 2		beat Spain 5-3
Sep 3	drew with Spain 0-0	beat Wales 1-0
Sep 5	beat Switzerland 5-2	beat Italy 3-2
Sep 6	beat Belgium 6-2	lost to Germany 2-6
Sep 8	beat Wales 6-1	beat Switzerland 5-3

In a repeat of the 1995 Europeans Cup in Dublin, Germany, Netherlands, England and Belgium were the four semi-finalists. In one-sided semi-finals, Netherlands drubbed Belgium 7-1, while Germany beat England 4-0.

In the final, Germany retained the title winning 5-4 on strokes, after a 3-3 draw in regulation time. It took 85 minutes of  playing time and 14 penalty strokes before Sascha Reinelt rattled in the winner for Germany. England beat Belgium 7-2 to claim the bronze.

This is the 5th European championship for the German team and the third consecutive one. In Paris (1991) and Dublin (1995), Germany had also won the title, beating Netherlands both times in the final.

Barcelona will host the European Championships in 2003. Both the men's and the women's tournament will be played in September of that year in a new stadium at Montjuich.

he 7th All Africa Games was held from September 9 - 18 at the Randburg Stadium in Johannesburg. 49 nations of Africa competed in the games. In the hockey competition, 6 men's teams and 4 women's teams took part. Nigeria had to drop out of both the men's and women's competition due to financial cutbacks.

South Africa swept both the men's and women's hockey gold to ensure their passage to Sydney. Their respective roads to the championship were as follows:

Date	Men	Women
Sep 9	beat Ghana 8-1
Sep 11	beat Zimbabwe 6-0
Sep 12		beat Namibia 7-0
Sep 15	beat Kenya 3-0	beat Kenya 5-1
Sep 17	beat Malawi 14-0	beat Zimbabwe 9-0
Sep 18	beat Egypt 4-0	beat Zimbabwe 8-0

his month's edition is devoted to winning and losing streaks.

New Zealand women have not beaten Australia for 20 years over 33 test matches. The last time New Zealand beat Australia was a 3-1 victory way back in June 1979 in Hamilton.

In men's hockey, Ireland has gone 50 years without beating England, while Poland has not beaten Netherlands in 24 years. The Poles' only victory against Netherlands was recorded in 1975.

When Canada whitewashed Australia 4-0 in the 4-Nations Cup, it was their first ever victory over Australia. The two sides had played 15 times earlier, without Canada recording a single victory.

Australia is ranked first in the world having won the Champions Trophy Tournament in Brisbane in June this year. Canada has never played in the Champions Trophy.

he Bank of Baroda 31st Junior National Championship took place at the Mahindra Stadium in Mumbai from September 22 - 30. Former Punjab DGP Jules Ribeiro, the chief guest, declared the games open after 15 colourful teams had lined up for a swearing in ceremony. Mumbai Police's band showed they were in touch with the times, serving up a cocktail of Ricky Martin Latino and Veer Savarkar bhajans.

There were a few no-shows at the junior nationals. Mizoram did not turn up, leaving only 2 teams in Pool G. Similary, the Rajasthan team also played truant, leaving only 2 teams in Pool C. Himachal Pradesh was another team not to show up, making Pool A a 2-team affair.

Haryana and Orissa were the two finalists. Their respective roads to the finals were as follows:

Stage	Date	Haryana	Orissa
League	Sep 24		beat Andhra Pradesh 6-0
	Sep 26	beat PEPSU 5-0
Quarters	Sep 27	beat Bihar	beat Manipur
Semis	Sep 29	beat Karnataka 3-0	beat Chandigarh 4-1

In the final, underdogs Orissa dethroned defending champions Haryana 3-2 to win the 31st Junior National Championship.

Orissa began in whirlwind fashion and were two goals to the good within 18 minutes of play. Touched to the quick, Haryana fought back and reduced the margin five minutes from the interval. Orissa made it 3-1 in the 42nd minute and Haryana pulled another goal back in the 61st minute. Orissa then held on grimly as the minutes ticked away.

Earlier, Karnataka trounced fancied Chandigarh 4-0 to claim the Hardlines Trophy.

hockey commentator from New Zealand is this edition's Visitor of the Month. Brendon Ward, who is a Project Manager with New Zealand Water Safety, writes:

I do the hockey commentary for Saturn Television in Wellington, New Zealand. Saturn is a communications company which offers TV, Phone and Internet options. Sports Net, one of the Saturn TV channels, is presently a Wellington cable TV channel.

Saturn is currently not live (i.e., games are taped, edited and shown later). One of the 3 tests between India and New Zealand women was shown on Saturn. The Indian team coach was given an unedited copy of the tape after the game.

We are also covering the final of the Wellington Regional schoolboys and schoolgirls competition, as well as the final round of the Premier 1 mens competition.

ndia u-21 players Prabhjot Singh and Devesh Chauhan have signed to play for Indian Gymkhana in Division I of the English Hockey League. They are part of at least 16 foreign players, from 6 countries, that play in the men's National Hockey League. The list is as follows:

Division	Team	Player	Country
Premier (Men)	Canterbury	Brian Garcia Kwan Browne	Trinidad & Tobago Trinidad & Tobago
	Old Loughtonians	Andy Griffiths Hari Kant Scott Smith	Canada Canada Canada
	Southgate	Grant Smith	Australia
	St. Albans	Craig Keegan	Australia
	Surbiton	Craig Jackson Greg Nicol Gregg Clark	South Africa South Africa South Africa
Division I	Chelmsford	Craig Fulton	South Africa
	Indian Gymkhana	Devesh Chauhan Prabhjot Singh	India India
	Lewes	Ed Cabay Nicolas Dupont	Belgium Belgium

Asia's best known hockey stars, Sohail Abbas of Pakistan and Dhanraj Pillai of India, have contracted to play in Holland. Sohail, who would be playing for Amsterdam, will temporarily stay in Holland for one month, and return once a 3 - 5 year residence permit is obtained.

Dhanraj has been offered a 6-month contract to play for the Dutch team Klein Zwitserland. The chairman of Klein Club, hockey legend Ties Kruize, offered the contract to Dhanraj for the second half of the Dutch hockey season (till February 2000).

Foreign hockey professionals in the Dutch league earn around Rs. 6 lakh per season, and get other perks including a car.

he Malaysian Hockey League (MHL) is Asia's only national hockey league. The 1999 edition of the MHL will be played among 8 teams, with each team having to play 14 matches on a home-and-away basis. The top four teams will play in a crossover semi-finals for the overall title. The 1999 MHL began on September 4 and will end on October 24.

League History : The MHL has had a rollercoaster life. The league began in 1987, had a record number of 16 teams in 1997, was scrapped in 1998, and now it has sprung back to life, at half-strength, with 8 teams in 1999.

The inaugural MHL championship was won by Tenaga Nasional. Teams who have won a hat trick of MHL titles are Tenaga Nasional (1987, 1989, 1991) and Maybank (1988, 1990, 1994). Other winners in this decade include MBf (1992), Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS) in 1995 and 1996, and Petaling Jaya Municipal Council (1997).

Money Matters : The total prize money at stake in the 1999 MHL is RM 122,500. The winner gets RM 40,000 and the runners-up pockets RM 25,000. The champion at the league stage wins RM 20,000 while the runners-up at the league stage gets RM 10,000. The MHF also presents the MHL Fairplay Trophy, which comes with a cash prize of RM 5,000.

The home team has to make its own arrangements for ball boys and medical personnel for each game. The MHF can undertake that repsonsibility, but then the home team has to pick up the tab.

1999 Teams : 3-time champions Tenaga Nasional, 1995 and 1996 champions Yayasan Negri Sembilan (YNS) and Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) with 10 national players, start as favourites in the 1999 edition of the MHL. Other sides completing the 8-team field are Maybank, Jansenites, combined Armed Forces team, Kuala Langat and Malacca Municipal Council. At the halfway stay of the MHL, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Tenaga Nasional remain the only unbeaten teams.

Singapore Premier League champions Jansenites are the first foreign team to take part in the MHL. YNS is the only team to have foreign players - brothers Mukesh Kumar and Suresh Kumar of India. Both were called back due to short-sighted officials back home in India.

Match Venues : The 1999 MHL will be played on 5 venues - National Hockey Stadium (Bukit Jalil), Tun Razak Stadium (Kuala Lumpur), Bukit Serendit Stadium (Malacca), Pandamanan Stadium (Klang) and Seremban Hockey Stadium.

What's At Stake : The 42 players from the national pool, as well as former international players are taking part in the league. Added to these are the top junior talent of Malaysia.

The performance of the national players will be closely watched by the selectors. A good showing by the seniors will count towards keeping their place in the national team, while for the juniors, it would mean promotion to the senior squad. MHF secretary S. Satgunam has clearly stated that the MHL was an integral part of the development plans of the Malaysian Hockey Federation.

 

Sanjeev Kumar October 4, 1969 (30 years old)

erry Walsh, coach of the #1 team in the world - Australia, has the following message for Indian hockey:

"From world hockey’s perspective it is very important that Indian hockey gets its act together and becomes a competitive team at the very highest level of international hockey. When I look at what they have, I think they have the talent to do that quite comfortably.

They have to figure out how they are going to sort out their internal workings, and they need to do that quite strongly. World hockey cannot continue to have such a world power languishing."

Are you listening, Mr. K. P. S. Gill?