The International Hockey Federation (FIH) will create a job power to work on its international award choice course of, which has prompted “outrage” and “disappointment” this 12 months, however its CEO Thierry Weil insisted that the winners – they aren’t all Indians – Will have stayed aside even with out the votes of the followers.
India gained on the FIH annual awards final Wednesday, claiming all the highest honors primarily based on a voting system that was slammed as a “failure” by males’s Olympic champions Belgium, the worldwide physique stated. Inspired that he would attempt to discover out why some unions didn’t put up. His poll.
Many within the hockey world questioned whether or not it was actually a good suggestion for followers to vote for an award meant to outline the perfect athletes and coaches from a technical standpoint.
However, the award winners topped every voting group which additionally included nationwide associations and the media.
“Our overall strategy at FIH is to put the athletes and fans at the center of everything we do. Hence, it is necessary to give the fans the option to express their views. If the current process in this regard is correct or not, we will definitely need to analyze it,” Weil stated in an interview revealed by FIH.
The votes of the nationwide associations – represented by their respective captains and coaches – accounted for 50 p.c of the entire outcome, whereas followers and gamers (25 p.c) in addition to the media (25 p.c) made up the opposite half.
It ought to be famous that solely 19 federations of the 42-strong European bloc voted, whereas 29 of 33 in Asia voted.
“…Obviously we have to interact the followers a technique or one other. After all, because of this vote, we can have the chance to interact with nearly 300,000 followers. It’s not solely good for India – Where most of those followers are coming from – but additionally good for the general improvement of our sport and due to this fact for the hockey neighborhood as a complete.
“Furthermore, as we famous on vote day, all successful athletes topped the standings in every of the three voting teams. In different phrases, even when the followers had not voted, the successful athletes have been the identical. would have been.”
Five Indian gamers and head coaches from each males’s and girls’s groups claimed prime honors in varied classes after garnering most votes on the Tokyo Olympics. The males’s hockey group gained the bronze medal on the Games for the primary time in 41 years, whereas the ladies’s aspect completed an unprecedented fourth within the showpiece.
When requested whether or not the voting course of would stay the identical sooner or later, Weil spoke of making a job power.
“I can not reply this query earlier than we do an intensive evaluation. But I can let you know that we’ll be working with the worldwide hockey neighborhood on the longer term Stars Awards.
“We will interact with a lot of stakeholders to provide you with a course of that has the assist of the bulk, after which undergo with it for the following 12 months.
“These awards are right here to advertise hockey, athletes and coaches. It’s no good for anybody in the event that they trigger controversy. I’ve already engaged with some individuals and can proceed to take action. We will type a job power to look into it.
He is “convinced” that everybody concerned within the sport will attain a consensus and have a good time these awards sooner or later.
Weil agreed that the absence of gamers from the Olympic gold medal-winning groups would trigger frustration and anger.
“If, in an Olympic year, the gold medalists don’t win any awards and the other country gets all of them, it’s clear that it won’t bode well. So, I’m certainly disappointed and, to some extent, special.” I undoubtedly perceive the anger of the groups involved.
“At the identical time, I wish to congratulate the winners. They have been all nominated by the FIH, the FIH Athletes Committee and an knowledgeable committee made up of excessive efficiency representatives and due to this fact deserved as a lot as others to win.
“And both the Indian teams had a great performance at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. I think the natural joy they should have felt by winning such an award must have been replaced by all this, and that’s not good either,” stated Weil. he stated. .
India’s Harmanpreet Singh gained the Men’s Player of the Year award and Gurjit Kaur was acknowledged as the perfect participant within the girls’s class.
Veterans PR Sreejesh and Savita Punia gained the perfect goalkeeper award within the males’s and girls’s classes, whereas younger strikers Sharmila Devi (girls) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (males) have been declared the perfect rising stars.
Asked whether or not the present voting course of is right, Weil stated it includes stakeholders from the game, though he didn’t name it ultimate. He additionally stated that the voting course of was kind of the identical as final 12 months.
“There were two differences. We have made it mandatory for national associations that their vote should come from the coaches and captains of their national team; I am sure everyone will agree that it is the right thing to do to increase the technical validity of the vote.” There was work.
“Second, the voting process for coaches was the same as for athletes this time around (whereas the FIH Coach of the Year award was previously determined by the FIH panel).”
Weil was requested why nearly half of the National Associations (NAs) didn’t take the chance to vote.
“I’ve personally contacted a number of members of the hockey neighborhood to be warned about this case, and I do know they have been proactive.
“But nonetheless, many nationwide associations didn’t forged their vote. Clearly this had by far the largest influence on the outcomes. If you represent a jury, however half of it doesn’t vote, how are you going to count on individuals to just accept the outcomes unanimously?
“In our analysis, we have to establish why this situation occurred.”
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
