MEN'S HOCKEY:THE EMBRYONIC World Series Hockey, which has collapsed, is something that may attract the top Irish players if organisers can revive the concept early next year.
One Irish athlete, Phelie Maguire, was supposed to have played in the professional Indian event, scheduled for this month. He actually made the trip to India.
The competition was based loosely on the cricket model where teams are owned by individuals or companies and prize money is on offer. But because of internal wrangling and strong International Hockey Federation (FIH) objections along with the Indian national squad demanding that Indian players put their minds to qualifying for the Olympic Games, the eight-team multi-city event will now be launched on February next year, just three days after the Olympic qualifiers are complete.
It was originally scheduled for December 17th to January 22nd, while the Olympic qualifiers are taking place in Delhi from February 15th to 26th.
The attraction of the event was the amount of money on offer, much more than in any competition before and more than the European clubs are paying their top players. It must be remembered that hockey draws large crowds in India and the sport is covered live on television.
The top Asian players from Pakistan and India were supposed to have participated, with eight Pakistani players reputedly having signed contracts to play.
Maguire, who played at Three Rock Rovers, as well as for clubs in Belgium and Holland, could have made in the region of €15,000 for a month’s work in India, more than an entire season in Europe.
The league reportedly had a €1.5 million dollar investment, but the FIH warned any player taking part in it would be banned from international tournaments such as the Olympics.
After London 2012 there is talk of the FIH launching its own world league, although details on that are scarce. In that light, though, it’s understandable why the FIH reacted furiously to the Indian event. Still, these are new times for hockey at the top end and horizons for international players may soon stretch far beyond Europe.
