n 2001, Argentina won the Junior World Cup in football. In less than an year from that triumph, two-thirds of the Argentine team were playing professional football in Europe. 

In 2001, India won the Junior World Cup in hockey. In less than an year from that triumph, not a single junior player is playing professional hockey in Europe, or anywhere else in the world.

In the opening game of the 2002 World Cup Football between Senegal and France, most of the players did not even play in their own country. While the bulk of the Senegalese team played in France (Lens), the bulk of the French team played in England. This illustrates the financial clout of the clubs in the European football leagues, where national boundaries are immaterial, and players gravitate to the clubs that reward them the most for their skills.

The world's richest football clubs in the world are all based in Europe. The top 5 clubs in terms of annual revenue are as follows:

Club	League	Country	Revenue
Manchester United	Premier League	England	£184.8 m
Real Madrid	La Liga	Spain	£163.6 m
Bayern Munich	Bundesliga	Germany	£144.7 m
AC Milan	Serie A	Italy	£141.7 m
Juventus	Serie A	Italy	£139.7 m

In 2002, world champions Brazil had 3000 of its players in various professional football leagues abroad, across all grades and divisions. In 2002, India had exactly 3 players in foreign hockey leagues - Jude Felix (Racing Club de France, Paris) and Dhanraj Pillai / Len Ayyappa (Arthur Andersen Sports Club, Kuala Lumpur). That's a factor of 1000 difference!

Except for Dhanraj, none of India's 2002 World Cup hockey team members played for a foreign club. In contrast, 8 of Brazil's starting 11 of their World Cup football team play abroad, as can be seen from the following table:

Country	Team	Player
Italy	AC Milan	Roque Jr.
	AS Roma	Cafu, Emerson
	FC Inter Milan	Ronaldo
Spain	FC Barcelona	Rivaldo
	Real Betis	Denilson
	Real Madrid	Roberto Carlos
Germany	Bayern Leverkusen	Lucio

The wealth gap between Europe and the football player producing factories of Africa and South America will ensure that for years to come, the cream of world football will earn their living in Europe.

If Senegal is filled with football schools who train youngsters who eventually end up in the European football leagues, why can't the hockey academies of India produce talented youngsters who eventually end up in the European hockey leagues?

If Waseem Ahmed of Pakistan, Chua Boon Huat of Malaysia and Song Seung Tae of South Korea can all play professional hockey in Germany in 2002, why is not a single Indian playing professional hockey in Germany?

If New Zealand's Ken Robinson, Bevan Hari and Simon Towns can play professional hockey in England in 2002, why is not a single Indian playing professional hockey in England?

If Argentina's Jorge Lombi, Maximiliano Caldas and Fernando Zylberberg can play professional hockey in Netherlands in 2002, why is not a single Indian playing professional hockey in the world famous Dutch hockey league?

Recognising that the babus, clerks and other file-shufflers of the IHF cannot provide for them, the Indian players should be more proactive and apply on their own to the hockey clubs of Europe. Till India and Pakistan come up with professional, world-class national hockey leagues of their own, the battle for world hockey supremacy will be won on the playing fields of Europe.

n modern day professional sports, it is unreasonable and unwise to expect players to play for free for their country. Why doesn't the IHF give match fees to the players, and a paid contract to the coach, and then hold them accountable for their results on the field. Where is the alleged 3-year Rs. 3-crore sponsorship deal with Castrol ending up in?

To look for role models, the blokes in the IHF need to just check with their suave and sophisticated counterparts in the Indian cricket board (BCCI). After studying contracts in Australia, England and South Africa, the working committee of the BCCI came up with the following proposals: 

Incentive	Category	Amount
Annual Fees	A1 Category of Players	Rs. 75 lakhs/year
(for top 20 players)	A Category of Players	Rs. 60 lakhs/year
	B Category of Players	Rs. 30 laksh/year
	C Category of Players	Rs. 15 lakhs/year
Match Fees	Test Matches	Rs. 2.25 lakhs/test
	One-Day Internationals	Rs. 1.80 lakhs/ODI
Bonus	Beat Higher Ranked Team	100% of match fee bonus
	Beat Lower Ranked Team	50% of match fee bonus
	Lose to a Team	50% of match fee reduced

Assuming that 1 Indian cricketer is worth 100 Indian hockey players in financial terms (due to the huge sponsorship amounts in Indian cricket), can the IHF give a least 1/100 of the amount that the BCCI proposes to give to the cricketers. For example, can the IHF give an annual retainership of Rs. 75,000 to the top 20 Indian hockey players in the country?

We do not know of any profession where the person works for free. The same applies to modern day professional sports - the principle in question being payment to be given for services rendered. It is simple, it is fair, and it is the right thing to do.

pektra Systems is the title sponsor of the Scottish Hockey Union's domestic hockey league. Bank of Scotland is the title sponsor of the Scottish team for the Commonwealth Games.

As part of their commitment to hockey in Scotland, Spektra Systems and Bank of Scotland held their first-ever awards dinner at the Apex International Hotel, Edinburgh, to recognise and honour Scotland's best players, clubs and coaches.

The awards were as follows: 

Award	Winner
Team of the Year	Westcoast Western, Glasgow
Men's Player of the Year	Mike Leonard, Grange Edinburgh
Women's Player of the Year	Sue Gilmour, Grange Edinburgh
Overall Coach of the Year	Terry Stephens, Waverley
Men's Coach of the Year	Duncan Low, Grange Men
Women's Coach of the Year	Wendy Justice, Glasgow Western
Boy's Coach of the Year	John Stapleton, Hillhead
Girl's Coach of the Year	Denise Christie, Ross High
Grassroots Coach of the Year	Elaine Brierly, Giffnock

This begs a question to the IHF - why is there is not a single award for India's best men and women's player of the overall domestic season, or for the best junior players, or for the best coaches, or for the best clubs?

Cannot the IHF set aside even 5% of its supposed 3-year Rs. 3-crore sponsorship deal with Castrol to award India's best players. If required, the IHF can send a reduced number of freeloaders on foreign trips, and utilise the money thus saved to award players at the end of India's domestic season.

The nail-chewing, file-shuffling babus at the helm of the IHF need to open their eyes a bit and see how the rest of the sporting world gives financial incentives to the players.

he Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) has announced the schedule of the National Junior Hockey League. Sponsored by health drink maker Milo and Admiral Apparel, the MHF-Milo-Admiral league will run from June through August.

22 teams from all over Malaysia signed up for the junior league, a record number of entries for a league that first started in 1995. That means a total of 440 top u-19 players will have the opportunity to show their talents in a nationwide league. The teams have been divided into two pools, with matches to be held on 8 different venues.

The MHF even had to turn down a foreign team (Singapore 2004 Project Team) due to the overwhelming response. The league will have a 2-week break in August to accommodate the national u-18 squad, which will be taking part in a junior hockey festival in Poland.

A point to note is the financial incentives being given in the junior league, which are as follows:

Amount	Category
RM 110,000	RM 5,000 Participation Bonus to Each Team
RM 22,000	RM 200 For Every Match Won
RM 15,000	RM 7,500 to Each Pool Winner
RM 25,000	Awarded to League Champion

Now let's take the case of India, the defending Junior World Cup hockey champions. Why is there no Junior National Hockey Championship listed in the 2002 Indian hockey calendar? It was last held 16 months ago, in February 2001, in Chennai. Where is the forum for the juniors to compete with each other on a national level, before graduating to the senior ranks?

If the IHF does not want the 2001 Junior World Cup victory to be termed a fluke, it better start taking junior hockey development seriously. Otherwise, that victory will be attributed to our juniors rising up the world ranks despite the system, not because of the system.

If not a nationwide junior hockey league like Malaysia, at least let the IHF get the junior national hockey championship going. It is not a favour being done to Indian hockey, it is their duty to conduct the annual nationals. That's what they have been elected for - to promote hockey in India, not to watch the rest of the hockey world pass us by.

he long arm of the law spares no one. Mansoor Ahmad, the goalkeeper who saved a penalty stroke in the final and won the 1994 World Cup for Pakistan, was sentenced to 7 years in jail and fined Rs. 20 lakhs (US $33,250) for stealing 1.087 tonnes of silver worth Rs. 97 lakhs (US $161,254) from a Pakistan Customs warehouse back in August 2001.

Mansoor Ahmad, who was even awarded one of Pakistan's highest sports honours, the Pride of Performance, was remanded for 1 week in custody by the Regional Accountability Bureau in August 2001, suspended as the national u-16 coach by the Pakistan Hockey Federation in 2001, and has now been sentenced by an Accountability Court to 7 years rigorous imprisonment in 2002. Mansoor will have to serve jail time of an additional 30 months if he cannot pay the Rs. 20 lakhs fine.

Mansoor, 33, captain of the Atlanta Olympics hockey squad, represented Pakistan in hockey from 1986 to 1998.

India - USA World Cup Playoff - Photographs Courtesy Adrian Kerry

fter 9 months of rescheduling and postponements, the 3-game playoff between India and USA for the final World Cup spot was held at Cannock Hockey Stadium, Cannock, England, from June 22 to June 25.

After opening the series with two ties, India lost to USA in the final match and failed to qualify for the Women's World Cup to be held this November in Perth, Australia. The scores were as follows:

Date	Result	Goal-Scorers - India	Goal-Scorers - USA
Jun 22	India 1 - USA 1	Mamata Kharab (10 m)	Tracey Fuchs (51 m)
Jun 23	India 1 - USA 1	Sita Gossein (48 m)	Tracey Fuchs (22 m)
Jun 25	USA 3 - India 1	Jyoti Sunita Lullu (19 m)	Tracey Fuchs (36, 49 m) Kelli Gannon (38 m)

India and USA have met 4 times this year, and India could not beat them even once. Tracey Fuchs scored 4 goals in the 3-match playoff, and is the player most responsible for taking the US to the World Cup. Tracey is a veteran of 2 Olympic Games and 3 World Cups, and has played in a US-record 219 internationals.

With the win, USA secured its 6th consecutive trip to the Women's World Cup over the past two decades (1983 - 2002). In that same time period, India qualified only twice for the Women's World (in 1983, when it finished second last, and in 1998, when it finished last).

With its past consistent record on its side, and backed up by results on the field, USA emerged deserving candidates over India to qualify for the 2002 Women's World Cup.

Mamata Kharab (l) and Papkidevi - Photographs Courtesy Adrian Kerry

4-nation pre-Commonwealth hockey tournament (men, women) was held at the Belle Vue Hockey Centre, Manchester, from June 14 to June 16. The Indian team participated in the women's edition, with the following results.

Date	Results	Goal Scorers - India
June 14	India 4 - Scotland 1	Jyoti Sunita Kullu (2) Pritam Rani Siwach Manjinder Kaur
June 15	India 1 - Ireland 0	Mamata Kharab
June 16	England 3 - India 2	Pritam Rani Siwach Papkidevi Nagasepam

In their last match, India was leading England 2-0 with only 10 minutes to go, and 2-1 with only 2 minutes to go. Amazingly, even as time was running out, England slammed in goals in the 69th and 70th minutes to win the match, and the tournament.

Had India just drawn with England, they would have won the 4-nation tournament on better goal average. A small consolation for India was Pritam Rani Siwach being voted the Player of the Tournament.

The English and Indian women's hockey teams have been playing each other since 1953. In a unique record, the England women's team has never lost a match to India.

double-leg 4-nation men's hockey tournament was held at Pines Stadium, Adelaide and State Hockey Centre, Melbourne, between May 30 and June 9. The participants were Australia (world #2), South Korea (world #4), Malaysia (world #8) and India (world #10).

Interestingly, all four countries were in the same pool at the 2002 World Cup. India had lost to all 3 countries in the World Cup, falling 1-2 to Korea, 2-3 to Malaysia and 3-4 to Australia. Coming into the tournament, India had not won a match against Korea and Malaysia in their last five encounters. In fact, India had not won against South Korea since their triumph in the Asian Games final 4 years ago.

Under new coach Rajinder Singh, India recalled 5 players who did not play in the World Cup - Gagan Ajeet Singh, Bimal Lakra, Vikram Pillai, Dinesh Nayak and Sameer Dad.

India, which came 2nd in both legs of the tournament, had the following match results:

Venue	Date	Results	Goal Scorers - India
Adelaide	May 30	Australia 4 - India 0
	June 1	India 3 - Malaysia 0	Daljeet Dhillon Jugraj Singh Prabhjyot Singh
	June 2	India 4 - Korea 3	Daljeet Dhillon (2) Gagan Ajeet Singh (2)
Melbourne	June 5	Malaysia 3 - India 2	Jugraj Singh Gagan Ajeet Singh
	June 6	India 2 - Korea 0	Gagan Ajeet Singh Daljeet Dhillon
	June 8	Australia 2 - India 1	Jugraj Singh
FINAL	June 9	Australia 6 - India 0

Australia showed their class by winning all 7 of their matches in the double-leg tournament. India came 2nd, Korea 3rd, while the young Malaysian team, which lost 6 of their 7 matches, brought up the rear.

The difference between the Australian offence and India's offence was very wide, with Australia scoring 12 goals to only 1 goal by India in 3 matches played between them.

The Indian team was as follows: Devesh Chauhan (goalkeeper), Dileep Tirkey (captain), Jugraj Singh, Dinesh Nayak, Sukhbir Singh Gill, Vikram Pillai, Bimal Lakra, Ignace Tirkey, Viren Rasquinha, Prabhodh Tirkey, Tejbeer Singh, Daljeet Singh Dhillon, Deepak Thakur, Gagan Ajeet Singh, Prabhjyot Singh and Bharat Chetri.

Photography Courtesy : 1948 Olympian, the late Patrick Jansen

he Photograph of the Month for July features the 1948 Olympic gold medal winning Indian hockey team. The photograph and the text extract below is taken from the book Hockey's Grand Slam by Clary Miller.

Over 25,000 spectators watched the 1948 Olympic hockey final between India and Britain, played at Wembley. India's passing completely bewildered the British side.

The chief failure of the British defence was the inefficient marking of the Indian wing players, who broke through time and again. Captain Kishan Lal at outside-right was outstanding in the forward line. The two goals scored by India in the first half were the result of good passes by Kishan Lal.

India went on to beat Britain 4-0, with the goal scorers being Balbir Singh Sr. (2), Pat Jansen and Tarlochan Singh Bawa.

The Indian XI that played in the final was as follows : Leo Pinto (goalkeeper), Randhir Singh Gentle, Keshav Dutt, Amir Kumar, Maxie Vaz, Kishan Lal (captain), K. D. Singh 'Babu' (vice-captain), Balbir Singh Sr., Pat Jansen and Lawrie Fernandes.

akistan's Ministry of Finance has agreed to a proposal by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to convert the Rs. 160 million allocated to procure 5 artificial turf pitches into a grant, thereby enabling the PHF to purchase as many turfs as possible in the given amount.

PHF secretary Brig. Musarratullah Khan masterminded a plan whereby the amount could be used to buy as many as 14 to 16 artificial turf pitches instead of 5, in order to broaden the base of hockey in the country. The brigadier had to convince officials of the Pakistan Sports Board, Ministry of Sports and the Ministry of Finance before his plan was approved.

Pakistan Sports Board had already put out a tender for the purchase of 5 artificial turf pitches. The tender would now be recalled and re-announced in the light of the changes agreed to by the Ministry of Finance to procure 14 to 16 turfs, instead of the original 5.

nly 4 countries in Asia play men's cricket at the international level - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Only 2 countries play women's cricket at the international level (India, Sri Lanka). Apart from the Indian subcontinent, cricket is a minor participatory sport in all other Asian countries.

In contrast, the best hockey playing countries of Asia are outside the Indian subcontinent - world #4 South Korea (men's hockey) and world # 5 China (women's hockey). Men's and women's hockey is an important event in the Asian Games, reflecting the game's spread in populous countries like Malaysia, Japan, Korea, China, besides the countries of the Indian subcontinent.

On what basis then does ESPN-Star Sports offer 261 days of live cricket to 50 countries in Asia in 2002, but show none or negligible live hockey matches on Asia's premier sports network?

When was the last time ESPN-Star telecast a 3-Nation or 4-Nation hockey tournament involving India. How about Commonwealth Games hockey? How about Asian Games hockey? How about World Cup Hockey? How about Olympic hockey?

The truth of the matter is that the national game of both India and Pakistan, the second most popular game in the subcontinent after cricket, has been unfairly sidelined by ESPN - Star Sports.

David Wells from Sydney, Australia, is this edition's Visitor of the Month. David is the president of the Arncliffe Scots - St George Hockey Club in Sydney, which is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year.

David had the following to say to BharatiyaHockey.org:

I have a hockey ball signed by the Indian hockey team that toured Australia in 1935. It is in perfect condition, and has captain Dhyan Chand's signature on it.

This ball was given to the late George Watts by one of the Australian players who played the touring Indian side in 1935. George passed away 4 years ago, and I collected the memorabilia from his house - the ball was found in a plastic bag amongst photographs of the test matches against India.

I passed on the photos to the New South Wales Hockey Association's museum, but kept the ball. I remembered that Dhyan Chand was a legend in hockey, and wonder what this ball would be worth to collectors in India?

ince 1978, when both the football and hockey World Cups started being held in the same year, there have been only 3 occasions when a country reached the final of both the World Cups in the same year. Holland (1978) and Germany (1982, 2002) are the only countries to reach the World Cup finals in both hockey and football in the same year.

The results of those finals are given below.

Year	Sport	Date	Result
1978	World Cup Hockey Final	Apr 1	Holland lose 2 - 3 to Pakistan
	World Cup Football Final	Jun 25	Holland lose 1 - 3 to Argentina
1982	World Cup Hockey Final	Jan 12	Germany lose 1 - 3 to Pakistan
	World Cup Football Final	Jul 11	Germany lose 1 - 3 to Italy
2002	World Cup Hockey Final	Mar 9	Germany win 2 - 1 over Australia
	World Cup Football Final	Jun 30	Germany lose 0 - 2 to Brazil

Germany has the awesome record of reaching 9 World Cup hockey semi-finals and 10 World Cup football semi-finals. No other country comes even close in reaching the summit of these two fast paced and popular games.