In today’s world if you ask too many questions you can find yourself in trouble, as many in authority are loathe to give answers.
Yet if you hold a position of trust and authority and you fail to ask questions you too can find yourself in trouble.
In fact in many countries at Board level the failure of a Board member to question, and have minuted their objections can result in them being held accountable if there is a problem. Silence, even in minutes, is deemed to be agreement with a decision.
It is pleasing to hear that in the world of Hockey those in authority have taken responsibility to ask questions which may cause some pain, but which will ultimately secure the game’s future.
As reported back on this site in December the International Hockey Federation has witnessed a mass exodus of senior staff in recent times, including the CEO; although an official press release has still not been sent out, and he along with other departed staff remain listed on the organisation’s website.(Who’s Left)
Head hunters have been tasked with finding a new CEO and an announcement is expected this month, with many hoping that the sport employs from outside the game a person with no affiliations to any sections of the game. Yet that is for the future, what is important is the present.
A letter has emerged that has been sent to Chair of the FIH Governance Panel, by the Chair of the Hockey Pro League and counter signed by members of the Pro League Management Panel. This letter sent on the 27th of February is requesting “an independent investigation relating to the signing of a contract on behalf of the FIH that we have been informed could jeopardise the implementation of the Hockey Pro League and potentially lead to bankruptcy.”
This is an explosive development. It is a development that cannot be ignored and the authors of the letter are to be applauded for penning it. They clearly care not only for the future of the Pro League, but also the future of the game.
The letter advises that the information was disclosed during a meeting on 1st February 2018 and was “confirmed in an email and Broadcast report that was sent to the LMP members and to some FIH Executive Board Members by email on 19th of February 2018.”
The issue outlined in the letter concerns the contract between the FIH and Star Sports in India, in which it is claimed “that the FIH will ensure that India will participate in the Hockey Pro League… and that “the FIH will use its best endeavours to ensure the participation of Pakistan.”
If true this is extremely concerning as it brings into question the whole selection process for the Pro-League. Not only that, it rightly or wrongly puts those on the selection committee in a very difficult position, as now questions will be asked as to how much information was shared with them, and did any of them know the content of the television contracts that had been lined up in various countries should they be selected to participate in the Pro League? Did the Committee ask the right questions and were those questions recorded in any minutes of their meetings?
This committee was made up of some very respected and distinguished individuals and they now find themselves in a very awkward position.
Australian barrister Ken Read was the Chair of the Selection committee, and was joined by the former CEO Jason McCracken, and three Board Members Marijke Flueren, Coco Budeisky and Annie Panter. There was one independent person invited to be a part of the process, Josh Smith who worked for BT Sport at the time, but has now taken on a role at FIFA as Director of Television Services.
Former FIH staffers David Luckes and Sarah Massey were also a part of the Event Portfolio Implementation Panel along with current employee Mathilde Grenet.
It is believed that all received copies of the applications to be a part of the Pro League from the various National Associations. In addition to these applications supplementary information was supplied on each application, and that included some information on the broadcast agreements. It is understood that they were not shown the actual contracts that had been negotiated.
However with the former CEO being a part of the Selection Committee, it is fair to presume that he would have been aware of the content of these contracts, as it is alleged that he was in fact the man authorised to sign the contracts.
The members of the Selection Committee now find themselves in the unenviable position of people wanting to know what information they were given and what was withheld. Who if anyone on the Committee viewed the contracts? Or was it just the CEO who had access to that information?
As those on the Pro League Management Panel state in their letter “all National Associations were consistently told that the bid procedure for the HPL was going to be fair and that applications were being treated equally, this was verbally communicated to us on several occasions and in written correspondence from the FIH. Clearly the signing of the Star contract during the bid process contradicts that commitment to fairness and equality.”
That said, one can understand Star Sports perspective. If they are to invest in such a league they would want their two biggest viewer drawcards to be a part of it, and to ensure that this was the case for it to make business sense to be involved. Hence they would have wanted that guarantee before signing up or at least a clause that released them from the contract if one or neither were in the Pro-League.
What these developments do explain is why at the start of December it was reported that India, having been selected to be a part of the Pro League and then withdrawn, had the FIH re-open the doors of the league to India despite the nine-team line-up in both men and women being completed way back in July. Spain and Belgium were included as respective replacements in the Men’s and Women’s competitions.
“The FIH would be delighted to have India as part of the Pro League. The doors are open now but there are some challenges.” The then CEO Jason McCracken was quoted as saying in the Indian press. Maybe these “challenges” are only becoming clear now.
As this situation appears to have only just come to light thanks to the “Broadcast Report” mentioned in the letter, the Pro League Management Panel are right to have requested a full independent investigation. There has to be transparency, and those who made decisions in good faith on the make up of the Pro League deserve to find out what information was withheld from them. They should not be castigated before we find out what information was, and was not shared with them.
Just as the Pro-League management panel should be praised for bringing this matter to light, so too should the FIH Board be praised as it is understood at a meeting on Friday they accepted and agreed that a full investigation should be carried out to protect the integrity of the organisation and the Pro-League.
Where does this leave the Pro-League which is due to commence in January 2019? Who knows? The schedule has come out, the television stations are locked in, but depending on the findings of the independent investigation and how quickly those findings are reached, there may be some nations who feel that they will be entitled to challenge the decisions made.
Haste is the key. The investigation needs to be underway as soon as possible and there needs to be full disclosure on which current allegations, if any, prove to be true and which are not.
This is also important in terms of the reputations of those who were on the Selection Committee, as if information was withheld from them they cannot be held accountable in any way, especially if they asked pertinent questions and those questions have been minuted.
The Hockey Public deserve a swift explanation in relation to the point made in the letter that the FIH could potentially find itself bankrupt. This word understandably has many worried, and asking how this can be so?
Hopefully a press statement will be issued in the next few days advising a course of action and allaying the fears of fans, players, coaches and national associations as to the financial state of the game’s governing body.
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JR,
Thank you for your long comment, you are clearly someone that cares passionately about the game.
In relation to the claims that the FIH could be headed for bankruptcy I would love some clarification on this issue and would have expected a statement to have been issued by now dispelling the implications in the letter. As you mention, operating in Switzerland is now a very different matter to five years ago. Board’s and staff are held accountable under the new Lex FIFA law. Without access to the contracts I cannot comment, but as you say any independent investigator would want to look closely at them.
As mentioned where does the Pro-League go from here? I asked the same question. It would be a shame to put it on hold after so much is being driven to the January 2019 start, but it could give the FIH more time to iron out a few problems that need addressing. It is interesting that another Pro-League meeting was recently held but the coaches were not involved nor the players. The key people to make it work.
The HWL Finals we covered on this very site and how teams that qualified were deprived of World Ranking points, This I can see being an issue with the Champions Trophy unless there are no World Ranking points up for grabs. As you state one would think that the FIH Executive Board would be putting out a statement on how they reached the decisions they did on this, and on World Ranking points sooner rather than later.
It must be very hard for the new man that has come in to sell the sponsorship of the game. He was highly credentialed and sounded like a good appointment, but issues such as this in the background will not help his task.
To me communication now is the key, along with transparency. There is no doubt the sport can rise from the problems of the past nine months, but the game must be put first.
Ashley,
It is difficult to comprehend the turmoil that has engulfed hockey in recent times. A CEO has come and gone. Commercial, Sport, Events & Marketing and HR Directors have moved on within the first term of a new President (who was a FIH Executive Board member until elected President) and now the ambitious program that promises to revitalize world hockey has been undermined by the detail in your measured article.
Multiple concerns exist, and the independent investigator has a monumental task ahead. One such concern may be the recent added scrutiny of International Sports Federations based in Switzerland, through the revision of Swiss law’s relating to the conduct of sporting bodies. It will be interesting to see if the contractual detail relating to India and Pakistan’s participation in the Pro League will draw the scrutiny of Swiss Authorities under the ‘Lex FIFA’ amendments that came into effect on July 1, 2016. Was the revised contract signed after this date? Is there any relationship between the previous broadcast contract (that was meant to be for eight years) and this revised one, and if so, what is that relationship? Who was responsible for negotiating the terms of the new contract? Is it this contract to which the bankruptcy claims are related? How so? If not, what are the bankruptcy claims? And so on….
What happens to the Pro League from here? Can it continue to progress and be developed, or does it need to be put on hold until a thorough and tireless investigation has been completed? Can FIH expect to attract much needed commercial sponsorship whilst this matter remains unresolved, and what is FIH doing to protect the future of the sport from such volatility? The competing nations have every right to be unsettled in their current position. Belgium have redeveloped their club system to accommodate the Pro League. The association of clubs in The Netherlands has expressed concern about the ability of their members to generate the same financial returns on which the worlds best club system has been developed. And sadly in all of this, many responsible for developing the Pro League have all since ceased their employment at FIH.
The timing of this news is also fitting, given that India and Pakistan have been named as being in the Men’s Champions Trophy in The Netherlands mid year. According to the FIH website, the FIH Executive Board were given the opportunity to invite additional teams who did not qualify through the stated criteria. Three places were open, meaning Belgium (rightly so as Olympic Silver medalists), followed by India and Pakistan being selected. Is the FIH EB willing to provide the criteria on which these teams were nominated and selected? Is any of this related to the above? How do Germany, as the Olympic Bronze medalists, not get selected? What about the six teams ranked higher than Pakistan, but lower than India? Five of which competed at the Rio Olympics (NZL, ESP, ENG / GBR, IRL, CAN), where Pakistan didn’t. And then Malaysia, who finished higher than India & Pakistan at the World League Semi-Finals in 2017 (as did CAN), yet missed the World League Finals due to India hosting, are also ranked higher than Pakistan. This is not the first time India have received a place in the World League Finals, and subsequently higher ranking points, due to hosting as opposed to qualifying on merit.
The sport’s reputation is firmly on the line, potentially more so than ever before. It would be imagined that the hockey community would echo your request for an investigation that is commenced immediately, thoroughly planned and directed without interference, transparent, and with the findings openly communicated.