| World Series Hockey | |
|---|---|
The logo of the World Series Hockey |
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| Countries | India |
| Administrator | Indian Hockey Federation |
| Tournament Format | Double Round-robin and Knock-out |
| First tournament | 2012 |
| Number of teams | 8 (List of teams) |
| Current champion | TBD |
| TV partner(s) | Nimbus Sport |
| Website | World Series Hockey |
| 2012 World Series Hockey | |
World Series Hockey (WSH) is an initiative of Indian Hockey Federation with the objective to reinvigorate hockey in India and to make it a ‘sport of choice’ for youngsters in the country. It was to be played in India among eight franchisee-based teams between 17 December 2011 to 22 January 2012, but later was postponed to 29 February 2012 owing to Olympic qualifiers.[1] The entire event will take place on ‘home and away’ basis culminating into multi header Playoffs. Australian Dennis Meredith, a member of the FIH panel of Tournament Directors has been appointed Technical Director of the WSH.[2]
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The event will witness traditional hockey apart from a few variations in the rules and regulations.
Each team will have 25 registered players out of which 18 can play. All the matches will be of 70 minutes each but instead of two halves, the games will have four quarters of 17-and-a-half minutes each to give more rest to players during a game and also provide opportunities to sponsors and advertisers. There will be green and yellow cards for on-field offences, video umpires in all games, and one-on-one shoot-outs in semifinals and final in case the regulation and extra time fails to produce a result.[3]
World Series Hockey will be a multi city franchise-based league with the players allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practiced draft system. The inaugural edition of World Series Hockey will consist of 8 teams representing 8 cities/states of India. The Event will be played in two Phases over 5 weeks and consist of a total of 61 matches.[4]
Each team will play the other twice; home and away and thus will play 14 league matches; 7 home and 7 away. The League Phase will consist of 56 matches and will be played from the 29 February to 1 April.[4]
The 4 Teams with the best record after the League Phase will qualify for the Playoffs. In the Semis, the No.1 team will play the No. 4 team, and the No. 2 team will play the No. 3 team. Each of these matches will be a one match knockout and will be played at the home of the higher positioned team i.e. the team which earns a higher position in the League Phase will benefit from getting to play a Home match. The winners of each Playoff Semis qualifies for the Finals. The Finals will be played between the winners of each of the Semis.The Finals will be a best of 3 matches. 2 of the 3 matches will be played at the Home venue of the Team with the higher position while one match will be played at the venue of the Team with the lower position. The team which wins the most matches in the Final will be declared the Champions.[4]
| Team Name | City | Home Ground | Owner(s) | Captain[5][6] | Head Coach[5][6] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chennai Cheetahs[7][8][9] | Chennai | Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium | Chennai Sports Organisers Pvt. Ltd. | Brent Livermore | Jose Brasa |
| Delhi Wizards[10][11] | Delhi | Dhyan Chand National Stadium | Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt. Ltd | Lucas Vila | Roelant Oltmans |
| Karnataka Lions[12][13] | Bangalore | Bangalore Hockey Stadium | Sporting Ace Pvt. Ltd. (Zentrum Group) | Arjun Halappa | Jude Felix |
| Mumbai Warriors[14][15] | Mumbai | Mahindra Hockey Stadium | Ashish Bharatram (SRF Group) and Harish Thawani (Nimbus) | Adrian D'Souza | Andrew Meredith |
| Pune Strykers[16][17][18] | Pune | PCMC Hockey Stadium | Sai Grace Sports & Events Pvt. Ltd. | Rodrigo Garza | Gundeep Singh |
| Bhopal | Bhopal | Aishbagh Stadium | Sardara Singh | Vasudevan Bhaskaran | |
| Chandigarh | Chandigarh | Sector 42 Stadium | Rehan Butt | Harendra Singh | |
| Punjab | Jalandhar | Surjeet Hockey Stadium | Prabhjot Singh | Rajinder Singh |
WSH will make all the franchisee announcements over the next few days. Players are allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted draft system.
Following eight venues will host the matches of eight franchises on a home and away basis: Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Bhopal, Jalandhar, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Chennai will host the matches of eight franchises on a home and away basis.
Originally, nine venues were selected and upgraded with floodlights, replay screens, and scoreboards but organisers decided not to have any matches in Hyderabad's Gachibowli Hockey Stadium.[19] Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium will host the opening ceremony and the inaugural match.
There will be one game on the first day, three matches next day and thereafter will be a double header every day.
The players for the eight teams were finalized on November 28 based on the draft system.[20]
The captains of eight city-based franchisee teams were announced at a media conference and the list includes 4 Indian players and four foreign players.
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WSH has signed on eight world renowned coaches to take charge of the teams. The coaches have been selected from a list of highly talented professionals primarily based on their experience with international teams and their exposure to the sub continent conditions.[21]
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Former India captain Dhanraj Pillay will make a comeback to field hockey as he signed up to play the inaugural WSH. The 43-yered the hockey world with his dazzling ball control and stickwork in his over a decade long career where he donned the Indian colour at four Olympics and as many World Cups.
| “ | It is a fantastic feeling to be back in action with the global hockey superstars. I have always maintained that the hockey players need to be better looked after and I am proud to be associated with WSH. The league will provide the young Indian players with an ideal platform to showcase their talent on a global stage. I have been undergoing intensive training to compete with the best in the world. | ” |
says Dhanraj Pillay.[22]
Former India captain Viren Rasquinha also returns to competitive hockey three years after he retired from the game. Viren, 31, who quit hockey in 2007 to pursue a course and career in business management, signed a contract with WSH for a handsome payout.
| “ | The emotion of winning and losing is amazing. The camaraderie in the dressing room, the team spirit that binds you as a unit, can be experienced only by a player. I have been playing rink hockey for a while now, I have also turned out for Air India in the senior division of the Mumbai league. But that was for fun. If I had to make a serious comeback, it had to be in a high-level competition that would motivate me to do it. WSH, according to me, is the right platform. | ” |
said Rasquinha.[23]
On November 11, technical committee for World Series Hockey was announced which includes Dennis Meredith, former Indian coach Joaquim Carvolho, Former Captain and one of the best goalkeepers of India Ashish Ballal, former Chairman of the FIH Umpiring Committee Peter Von Reth, M.P. Ganesh, Shahbaz Ahmed and Zafar Iqbal.
The committee will be responsible for establishment of rules and regulationsm the WSH code of conduct for players, tournament officials and franchise owners, guidelines for offences and penalties pursuant and guidelines to the WSH Technical Director on the process for hearing and determining any reported offence.[24]
Tina Brullo of Australia was named as the competition operations manager. Tina has over 15 years of extensive experience in managing international sports events including the last year's FIH Hockey World Cup in India.[25]
1996 Atlanta Olympics Indian goalkeeper Alloysius Edwards was chosen as one of the managers of the World Series Hockey [26] whereas sports medicine expert P.S.M. Chandran, involved with multiple sports at the international level for more than three decades, was elected as chief medical officer.[27][28]
The prize money for WSH will be the highest ever prize money for any hockey event in the world which is 30 times more prize money than the Euro Hockey League. The total prize money is excess of 10 Crores (100 Million). Prize Money will be as follows:
| Final Positions | |
|---|---|
| Position | Prize Money |
| Champions | 4 Crores (40 Million) |
| Runners-up | 2 Crores (20 Million) |
| Third Place | 1 Crores (10 Million) |
| Fourth Place | 1 Crores (10 Million) |
| Individual Prizes | |
| Award | Prize Money |
| WSH Rockstar (Most Valuable Player) | 1 Crores (10 Million) |
| Indian Super Star (Star Indian Player) | 50 Lakhs (5 Million) |
| Golden Stick (Highest Goal Scorer) | 25 Lakhs (2.5 Million) |
| Game Changer (Best Midfielder, Defender or Goal Keeper) | 25 Lakhs (2.5 Million) |
| Rookie of the Year (Best emerging player under 21) | 10 Lakhs (1 Million) |
If an Indian player becomes 'WSH Rockstar’, the prize for the 'Indian Superstar' will be awarded to the next best Indian player. All WSH franchises have committed to share a minimum of 50% of their team winnings with the players.[29]
WSH will be setting up international standard goalposts at every tournament venue. These goalposts are the same ones that will be used in the London Olympics in 2012, and are manufactured by Harrod UK, who are the official suppliers to the event. Harrod UK has been responsible for goalposts used in global sporting events, including Rugby World Cup, Delhi Commonwealth Games, Wembley Stadium, Santiago Bernabéu and Dubai Sports City. The specialty of these goalposts is that the back post is outside the net, thus not allowing balls to rebound at pace from within the goal, and leaving no doubt in decisions made by umpires on shots on goal that enter the goal.[30]
The organisers of WSH announced huge financial rewards for Indian players who participate in the event. As per the plan, WSH-signed players who make it to the Indian team for next year's Olympic Qualifiers will get 5 lakh each. If India qualify for London Olympics, these players will be given additional 5 lakh each.
If Indian team returns with bronze medal from London Olympics, 50 lakh will divided equally amongst all WSH-signed players in the team. The sum will be doubled to 1 crore if India win silver, while the reward will be 2 crore in case of a gold medal.
The preparatory camps for World Series Hockey will commence on December 10. The international players and coaches have started arriving in India. Sun Ming (South Korea), Stephenson Lloyd James (New Zealand) and Andreu Enrich (Spain) have already arrived, and the next set of international players including the Pakistanis will be arriving in the next couple of days. The high intensity camp has been specially designed by the coaches keeping in mind individual skill sets that can be synced with the team strategy.[31]
The organizers of World Series Hockey decided to postpone the event by two months due to uncertainty over the participation of Indian players ahead of the Olympic qualifiers. Confirming this in a release on December 12, Nimbus Sport said the franchisee-based tournament would now be held between February 29 and April 1. However, Hockey India officials were quick to clarify that there was no guarantee of the national squad members being available on those dates if they correspond with their preparatory camps.[32]
The IHF is not recognised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) as the governing body for the sport in India. The IHF has not been recognised by the FIH since 2000. Instead the FIH recognises Hockey India as the sole national governing body for hockey in India. It remains an unsanctioned event as per the FIH Statutes and Bye-Laws.[33]
Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has said that any player who participates in the WSH will be banned from domestic competitions. This declaration hinders the plans of several Pakistan hockey stars, including former captain Rehan Butt. FIH wrote a letter to PHF which clearly stated that the league is unsanctioned and national team members and players not part of the team too would not take part in it. Earlier, the FIH had stated that those who had signed their contracts before 28 March, 2011 could play in the league, but now the situation has changed as FIH has termed the league unsanctioned. Apart from Rehan, Zeeshan Ashraf, Mudassar Ali, Tariq Aziz, Adnan Maqsood, Waseem Ahmad, Syed Imran Warsi and Shakeel Abbasi were signed to play in WSH.[34]
FIH president Leandro Negre served a direct warning to players looking to participate in the WSH that they will be suspended from international matches. The entire Indian squad signed a contract to play in the league but Negre made it clear that any Indian player who participates will be banned from the Olympic qualifiers and all FIH tournaments.[35]
Former Indian coach Harendra Singh criticized the FIH and HI that they have no right to interfere in a domestic tournament and stop players from participating in the WSH. According to him, playing in match situation is more beneficial for the players than attending camps for the Olympic qualifiers.[36][37]
On November 30, six top Indian players pulled out of the league in favor of the national camp for the Olympic qualifiers from December 11. In a letter, addressed to Hockey India secretary Narinder Batra and signed by skipper Bharat Chettri, Tushar Khandekar, Yuvraj Walmiki, Sreejesh, Sandeep Singh and Sardar Singh, the players said they would be available for selection to the national team for the qualifiers, which would be held in the Capital in February. The organisers of the WSH, however, said that they were yet to get communication from any WSH player regarding their non availability for the inaugural edition of the event.[38]
On December 1, six more Indian players pulled out of the World Series Hockey citing national camp for the Olympic qualifier that would coincide with the league starting December 17. The six players - Rupinder Pal Singh, Danish Mujtaba, Kangujam Chinglensana Singh, Manjeet Kullu, Birendra Lakra and Manpreet Singh - in a letter assured the Hockey India that they would attend the national camp that starts December 11 in Delhi. But the IHF president RK Shetty said: "The IHF haven't received any request from the players. It is a ploy to sabotage the WSH".[39]
Sources claimed that coach has requested Hockey India to postpone camp from December 11 to sometime in January so that national players can feature in inaugural World Series Hockey.[40] Organisers of the WSH have said they are open to postponing the event by three months, till after the Olympic Qualification tournament, following Hockey India's refusal to select those players in the Indian team who would participate in the proposed franchise-based league.[41] The organisers are set to postpone the event with condition of written guarantee from HI and an assurance that they will allow all the players to participate in the tournament after the qualifiers.[42]
International broadcasters are to be announced soon.
Red Digital will be responsible for building social media presence for inaugral WSH. Red Digital is a Mumbai-based digital ideation and services company which operates across new media platforms such as social media, gaming, mobile and the traditional web. Red Digital is engaging fans in viral activities such as trivia, games, polls, promos and contests to keep fans abreast on latest happening of the tournament. It is exposing the facebook users to hockey and all the things involved with the game and tournament.[44]
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