Fine? No Thanks

In the past few days reports were published in the press in Pakistan announcing that the Pakistan Hockey Federation(PHF) had averted a ban for their national team, and that the International Hockey Federation(FIH) “had imposed a fine of around Rs 24 million on the PHF for failing to honour the Pro Hockey League commitments.” This equates to roughly AUD481,680 or in USD345,600.

It needs to be stated at this point in time that there is still no confirmation of any punishment, and certainly none of a fine coming out of the FIH offices in Lausanne. Even the reports claiming that a fine had been handed down stated that “Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials are tight lipped on the latest communication with the international body.” So those outside of the two organisations are none the wiser.

Let us look at how Pakistan find themselves in this predicament. First of all following years of consultation the FIH decided that the way to carry the game forward and take it to new audiences was to create a global home and away league for international teams. The premise being that fans would see the best teams and the best players playing in their own back yard, on a regular basis; something that did not happen with the Tournament format that existed.

The initial proposal was for a League of seven men’s and seven women’s teams. The stumbling block here was financial. Could the top seven teams in the world attract the sponsorship to make the league viable? A decision was made to expand the league to include India. After all India is the spiritual home of the game. It had also been the biggest financial supporter in recent times. With India in the league, the sponsorship dollars would surely flow.

Obviously if India were to be in the League a Broadcaster would be needed. Star Sports had been the FIH’s Broadcast partner, so they would not have to look far for a broadcaster. The only problem here however was that to Star Sports the most appealing fixture was India playing against their age-old rivals, Pakistan. A game that almost guarantees a viewing audience in excess of 100 million.

So it was decided that the League’s would be expanded to include India and Pakistan. It would no longer be a seven team competition, but a nine team one. When the nine teams were announced it came as no surprise that India and Pakistan were included. Pakistan being the lowest ranked team in the Men’s competition. They did not have a team in the women’s tournament, so that place was taken by China or the USA who did not have a Men’s team.

Sadly for all concerned a month after the announcement of the participants, India withdrew both their men’s and women’s teams. With that withdrawal went Star Sports, and potential sponsors from India. Spain came in to replace them.

The question many were asking at the time was why, with India no longer a part of the competition did the powers that be not revert back to the seven team model, which they had obviously done feasibility studies on? Clearly the revenue streams were going to be greatly diminished. Was it not over ambitious to look to stay with a nine team competition without India?

In October of 2017 it was announced that because teams would not travel to Pakistan, they would play their games in Scotland.

The deal between Scotland and Pakistan however fell over, and there were some very worried individuals. In November 2018 it was announced that Pakistan would now play their “home games” in England, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Argentina. Those countries not included felt a little miffed that these five nations would in effect have an extra “home game” each, but for the sake of the competition stayed quiet.

Prior to the Men’s Hockey World Cup in India in late November 2018 there were murmurs coming out of Pakistan that the Federation was broke. It was reported that the team may not be able to compete at the World Cup unless the Government bailed them out. This was not good news with the Pro League due to start just over a month and a half later.

Were financial guarantees requested? Were they given? We will probably never know.

On January 19th 2019 the FIH Pro League began with a great match between the World Champions Belgium and Spain, a game many believe set the tone for what was to come.

Sadly just five days after that opening game Pakistan announced that they were pulling out of the League on the pretext of financial constraints. They claimed they did not have the funds to travel to Australia, New Zealand and Argentina to complete their opening games on the 2nd, 3rd, 9th and 17th of February.

According to those who signed the contracts to be a part of the FIH Pro League, the terms stated that a withdrawal would result in an International suspension. Not The Footy Show has been told that the term of that suspension was two years.

According to the report published in the Pakistan press “The FIH Executive Board that met in Lausanne (Switzerland) almost a month back decided to refer the matter to its disciplinary commission.” These same reports claim that the Disciplinary Commission has ignored the International ban and opted for a Financial fine.

The Report claimed ““It was because of Pakistan withdrawal that these countries suffered financially. Now it is pertinent on Pakistan to pay damages to make up the loss incurred by these three countries hockey federations. Had Pakistan played the first leg of the Pro League engagements, there was every potential that all these three federations would have received extra benefits for hosting the Pro League matches,” the committee is said to have communicated the PHF.” So is this a fine or is it simply compensation to Australia, Argentina and New Zealand? Are there more sanctions to follow?

The report went on to say that the PHF intended to appeal the fine on the following grounds, “We have pulled out of commitments to play the league mainly because of the financial implications. Since the PHF did not have financial resources to cater the requirements of the tour, how it would now pay the fine.”

Once again it is worth stating that no official media statement has come from the FIH on this matter. So there is no confirmation or denial that this is indeed the punishment that has been handed down. It would be good if an announcement were forthcoming soon, to clarify the situation.

It seems hard to believe that a fine would be imposed on a nation that withdrew from a tournament due to a lack of funds. It would never happen in a court of law, alternative sanctions would be handed down. As stated at the present time there is no announcement to say that this is the case.

It is no secret that Pakistan Hockey has been dreadfully mismanaged in recent times and that is why it finds itself in this predicament. As stated previously, (How the Mighty Have Fallen) the game there needs help and it needs it quickly before it dies.

Surely a better solution – if the newspaper report is correct – would have been to suspend the senior National team from competition for the term stipulated in the FIH Pro League contract, as harsh as that may sound. It would then send a clear message that rules are not to be broken, especially if they damage the integrity of the game.

However, to try and help Pakistan climb out of the hole that they find themselves in, the FIH supply or second Management consultants to the Pakistan Hockey Federation to put fiscal and administrative structures in place to ensure strong management moving forward. If they could set up a meaningful League competition that would also be a big plus.

In addition to this, the ban does not apply to Pakistan’s junior sides. Their under 21’s, U’18s and all lower age groups are allowed to continue to participate in International tournaments. This focus may help the country to invest in its youth, and at the same time encourage young players to take up sticks and play hockey rather than cricket. As if they do well, once the ban is completed they will be ready to step up into the senior ranks.

What about the current players who have done nothing wrong? Many will no doubt ask. Once again if the “Hockey Family” really is familial and cares about all and the long term good of the game, then people and clubs will work together to assist those players and find them places in teams within the competitions in their countries. Some would be ideal replacements for those players lost on Pro League duty.

It is a very unfortunate situation that Pakistan finds itself in. There is no doubt the players would wish they were playing, so too would the fans. Who knows the conversations that led to Pakistan being included in the Pro-League, but those who made that commitment should be held accountable. They too should be suspended from involvement in the game at all levels.

Hopefully in time we will hear officially what sanctions have been imposed, but more importantly a plan to help pull Pakistan Hockey out of the quicksand that is currently dragging it towards oblivion.