Hockey players revolt over non-payment

Ahead of the World Cup next month in New Delhi, Indian hockey on Friday received a major jolt with the players boycotting a training camp in Pune for non-payment of match fees. The players took the unprecedented step to stay away from the camp after Hockey India, the interim body governing the game in the country, failed to respond to two of their letters asking the authorities to make the payments.

The players were to be paid a mere Rs 25000 per player who had toured Argentina for the Champions Challenge. In the previous tours the players were paid in advance but this time a long time has passed since the tournament got over and the players are yet to get their dues. The players had written to Hockey India first on November 23. They had given a deadline of January 8 to Hockey India to respond to the letter. When no response came they boycotted the practice camp today. Captain Rajpal Singh has led the revolt.

Why can’t the Government which is spending millions of rupees preparing for the Commonwealth Games spend some more money on the national game? Why can’t Hockey be corporatised like cricket. Cricketers earn so much just by ads, promotions etc apart from cricket. We stay up to watch cricket matches but we hardly know the names of our hockey players. Cricket has lots of money and BCCI can take care of itself if it gets a little less money from the govt. The hockey players demand that they should be given incentives. Why should they be denied? They won the bronze medal in the Champions Challenge in Argentina. If the Indian Cricket Team had won the bronze medal, there would have been felicitations, rewards running into crores of rupees etc.

I am no cricket basher. On the contrary I love cricket. But it is high time that hockey gets some importance. As the national game it should be given importance by the government. You cannot just ignore the players thinking they will adjust to the situation. This is a game in which India has won 8 Gold Medals, 1 Silver medal and 2 bronze medals at the Olympic level. This is a game which led to the rise and rise of the legendary centre forward Dhyan Chand. This is a game that deserves as much, if not more, importance as cricket.