India to join FIH Pro League in 2020
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The Indian men’s team will compete in the Pro League next year with the international hockey federation (FIH) tweaking the format that will reduce travel time and costs for teams.
The Olympic and World Cup qualification process is also up for an overhaul for the next cycle.
India are aiming to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics through the FIH Series Finals, which will be discontinued from next year.
India were not part of the inaugural Pro League season this year due to lack of clarity over the Olympic qualification process and a hectic schedule, said Hockey India (HI) chief executive officer (CEO) Elena Norman.
“When it was launched in 2016, we did indicate that we are interested to join but there were ambiguities in terms of the Olympic qualification process, world ranking points etc. Given that qualification for the Olympics was our priority, we thought we would opt for an easy approach for India and wait and watch as far as the Pro League is concerned,” she said.
“The Pro League schedule was very occupying with a home and away format for nine teams and it was not giving us enough time to play in other competitions. Once we have a squad of 32 players for Pro League, we could not have tested junior players like we did in Azlan Shah.
“We had asked the FIH that we are willing to a have a look at it in the future. So, they were planning to take India into the Pro League in 2021; that is when they would have expanded the competition from nine to 11 teams.”
However, with Pakistan withdrawing from the men’s competition, FIH invited India to participate from next year. India have asked FIH to consider the women’s team participation also.
“There was a vacancy and FIH asked whether we are willing to come from next year instead of 2021 and we accepted that invitation. We have indicated we would be interested to consider the women’s team as well.”
FIH’S ambitious Pro League, which started in January involving nine teams, is played in a round-robin competition on home-and-away basis till June. In the new schedule, the away games have been split over two consecutive seasons.
“This reduces by half the travel of the teams compared to the current format, therefore decreasing costs for teams,” FIH said in a statement.
“There is more flexibility in the new calendar. It will not be completely occupying for entire six months. It will allow us to play other tournaments, invitational events outside Pro League as well. So, it will be the best of both worlds for us. We also get to play the best teams prior to the Olympics, so it will be a good exposure,” Elena said.
Asked whether India decided to join because of a change in the Olympic qualification process, Elena said the new system hasn’t been confirmed yet.
“They have not technically told us (qualification process). Given the schedule of Pro League this year, we actually got lucky not playing.”
FIH is also changing the world rankings system, which will be based on individual match results rather than tournament results, to make each match meaningful. The Pro League will get more weightage in terms of ranking points as it will involve the top teams in the world. A win, defeat or draw involving top teams will get more points than those involving teams in the lower rung.
“It is great India will join the FIH Pro League next year. There is such a passion for hockey in the country that it will add a lot to our newest competition,” FIH CEO Thierry Weil said in a statement.