AS was expected, the election of Brigadier Musrratullah to the FIH Executive Board did have a spin-off effect on the elections of the Asian Hockey Federation where the brigadier was elected to the post of Vice-President for the next four years. Now he has responsibilities at all the key levels, national, regional and international. The onus will be on him to deliver the goods.
At the FIH meeting, he was definitely favoured by the atmosphere generated by the retirement of Brigadier (retd) Atif, who decided to voluntarily step down from his position in the FIH Executive Board as well as from the chairmanship of the Rules Board. I was proud to be a Pakistani when the FIH official Els Von Breda heaped lavish praise on Atif for having served the international body for such a long time and with such distinction.
The congress was being attended by as many as sixty countries, and every single soul present in the hall that day was part of the standing ovation that Atif got as Breda concluded her speech. It is rare for a Pakistani official to get such a memorable farewell at an international forum, but Atif certainly deserved every bit of it.
As for the proceedings of the Rules Board, of which I happen to be a member, it was decided to put two regulations on a one-year mandatory trial on an international scale. The period will commence from the first day of year 2003. Both the rules deal with penalty corners.
It has been often argued in certain circles that the Europeans have taken control of the rule-making process and come up with ideas that are detrimental to Asian outfits. I, for one, have never bought such theories. The decisions taken at the recent meeting are ample proof that things don’t happen that way. Pakistan is the main beneficiary of one of the two rules that are being put in place. The rule concerned does away with the requirement of stopping the ball before taking a strike at the goal.
With Sohail Abbas in the Pakistani line-up, the rule is definitely going to favour Pakistan more than any other team, provided Sohail is able to keep his nerves. I say this because while Sohail has become the highest goal-scoring Pakistani in international hockey, the national team has not clinched many trophies during his career. This means his goals don’t come when they really matter. Sohail and the team coaches will do well to make the most of the current rule change.
The other rule comes to the rescue of the defenders, who are now allowed to stop the ball with their sticks above the shoulder. This rule, however, applies not just to a Penalty Corner setting, but also to open play.
In our context, the two rules boil down to one thing: it is going to be a tussle between Sohail Abbas and the defenders. Let’s see who makes the adjustment first.
AS was expected, the election of Brigadier Musrratullah to the FIH Executive Board did have a spin-off effect on the elections of the Asian Hockey Federation where the brigadier was elected to the post of Vice-President for the next four years. Now he has responsibilities at all the key levels, national, regional and international. The onus will be on him to deliver the goods.
