Watch: Will Indian hockey continue to be a tamasha?

Just when the problems plaguing Indian Hockey seemed like they were moving from the dustbin into the dump – with players being banned, no coach and no money even for playing shoes – it rose like a phoenix by unexpectedly clinching the Asian Champions Trophy in China last Sunday. Sadly, that glory was met with disappointment on the team’s return.

As the euphoria of India’s win over arch rival Pakistan (4-2 in penalty shootouts) at the inaugural Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament hadn’t died down, the sport’s governing body Hockey India committed a foul. It announced a paltry cash reward of Rs 25,000 to each player.

This, compared to Rs 14 crore the Indian cricket team received for their World Cup win.

International Cricket Council (ICC), cricket’s governing body , awarded the winning team approximately Rs 14 crore (or $3 million). In addition to the tournament’s prize money, the Board of Control for Cricket in India awarded each player of the winning team Rs 2 crore. But, money was not the only thing that followed the win. Many players also received plots of land as a reward. The Uttarakhand government pledged that it would give MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, a residential plot or a house in Mussoorie and the Jharkhand government said it would give a plot of land to Dhoni to set up a cricket academy in the state.

Citing limitations, Narendra Batra, Hockey India’s secretary general said the federation could afford to give out only Rs 25,000 in reward. “I would love to get them a crore each, but keeping the current financial situation (of HI) it is not possible. I will be talking to the entire team on the issue and I am sure they will understand our limitations," he told the Times of India .

Miffed, the players refused to accept it.

Refuting allegations of it being a knee-jerk reaction, sports minister Ajay Maken announced a cash reward of Rs 1.5 lakh to each players and Rs 75,000 each for the coach and support staff, on Tuesday.

On the same day, Leandro Negre, president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), the sport’s world governing body, announced that the upcoming Champions Trophy 2011 in December, which was to be held in India, will now be held in New Zealand. Earlier on 5 September, the FIH decided to withdraw India’s hosting rights for the Champions Trophy , citing problems in the governance of hockey in India.

The team which won the Asian Champions Trophy is largely a new one – with six of its 11 players having had no international experience and two seniors having walked out of the national camp just days before the departure.

Hopefully, Hockey India and the sports administration of the country will not play killjoy, yet again, relegating our national sport to a tamasha.

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