Narinder Batra, the newly elected chief of International Hockey Federation (FIH), said India would get to host more major international tournaments in the coming two years. “India was earlier hosting only one big tournament. But now that I will move out as Hockey India chief and take on my new job, India will host at least two FIH tournaments every year. We have men's Asian Champions Trophy and the World Cup in 2018 and the Hockey World League final next year. Along with that we will be hosting the qualifiers for five-a-side under-17 Youth Olympic Games for both men and women. FIH's international congress (2018) will also be held in Delhi,” Batra, who succeeds Spain's Leandro Negre as FIH chief, said.
As part of his new responsibility, Batra aims to popularise the sport and increase its reach worldwide. He also spoke of Hockey Revolution programme whereby a nine-team, home-and-away league will be introduced which will also serve as Olympic and World Cup qualifiers.
“FIH will introduce a 10-year Hockey Revolution programme from 2019. The programme's aim is to ensure the next generation takes up the sport. Its overall aim is to make hockey more popular and reachable. We will be looking to increase the game's geographical boundaries and revenues. We ought to have more than 12-14 teams vying for a spot in the Olympics,” Batra, who became the first Indian and also first non-European to head the world body, said.
Meanwhile, Batra added that all issues with the Pakistan Hockey Federation have been resolved and rubbished reports that Pakistan will not be participating in next month's Junior World Cup to be held in Lucknow. “All issues with Pakistan over the Champions Trophy have been resolved. As far as FIH is concerned, Pakistan has confirmed its participation. But the final decision rests with the governments of the two countries - whether Pakistan wants to send its team and India wants to allow them to play,” he said.
Batra, who will be stepping down as Hockey India president before taking charge as world body chief, said it would take around 15 days to elect a new president. However, he admitted that he will always regret not doing enough for women's hockey.
“During my tenure, the ranking of men's hockey rose from 12 to current 6. But I will be leaving with one regret - I couldn't do much for women's hockey. I would have loved to leave with a medal at the world level for the men's team,” he pointed out.
