Hockey India offers just Rs 25k to each player; players reject award

NEW DELHI: Amid the pathetic wrangling for power among competing associations and a sports ministry desperately trying to gain some turf in sport administration, members of India's national hockey team, which won the inaugural Asian Champion's Trophy on Sunday, were insulted by Hockey India, which offered a paltry cash reward of Rs 25,000 to each player.

The players rejected the award outright, plunging the national sport into a disgraceful controversy, days after the team brought glory to the country, beating archrivals Pakistan 4-2 in the final.

Sports Minister Ajay Maken slammed the hockey association and supported the player's decision, but he failed to do a lot better when his ministry offered Rs 1.5 lakh to each player. In comparison, when India won the Cricket World Cup in April, the cricket board awarded Rs 1 crore to each player, while several state governments awarded crores of rupees and prime property to players.

The state of the national game has plunged to such depths that the final, held in China, was not even broadcast live in India, despite the fact that any India-Pakistan sporting contest usually gets massive eyeballs.

"I agree with players," Maken said. "By refusing Rs 25000 they have done right. This was like an insult, they deserve more and the federation should have talked to us before announcing the reward. This money could have been clubbed with our reward."

Skipper Rajpal Singh told a TV channel that the team was disappointed by Sports Minister Ajay Maken's hollow statements about reviving hockey. "The federation has failed to meet our expectations. This is not the way to treat the national players. The money should be better not just for the motivation of the current crop of players, but also for the future generations who'd like to take up the national sport," Singh said.

Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra claimed the resources with his organisation constrained it to offer the small cash award. "I would love to get them a crore each, but keeping the current financial situation it is not possible. I will be talking to the entire team on the issue."