ZAFAR IQBAL INTERVIEW

Zafar Iqbal is a name that conjures up imagery of a zippy left outmaking dazzling runs to score goals for India. His famed pairing withthe deadly Mohommad Shahid was known for its potency in front of thegoal mouth. Now ensconced as the sports ministry appointed governmentnominated observer along with another former captain Ajit Pal Singh overseeingselection process and coaching for Indian hockey, Zafar Iqbal has a ringside view to the fast moving developments in Indian hockey. With Hockey India having announcedearlier that it would give a notice for the elections 21 days prior tothe polls, time is running out. More so because the wrangling andharanguing over affiliations continues to over shadow the moreimportant issue of staging the Hero Honda hockey World Cup fromFebruary 28. It is ironical that in a land where theWorld Cup is returning after 29 years, the issue of Hockey India pollsare dominating the event itself. There is no hype, no hoopla over thestaging of an event of such magnitude. Nor any mention of our playersand their training regimen. As Iqbal says, this is theOlympic Games of hockey and it is being held in your own backyard andwhat are we doing about promoting it - nothing! That tells you thestory of Indian hockey as it lurches from crisis to another. In anextensive conversation with Sandeep Bamzai, the former Indian hockeycaptain Zafar Iqbal bares his heart. Excerpts:
*We only hear about Hockey India elections, not about the World Cupwhich returns to India for the first time since 1981, what explainsthis shocking apathy towards such a big event?
We are very close to the World Cup, hardly a month and more remainsfor the event to start in Delhi. I agree that nobody seems to beconcerned or is giving adequate importance to the event per se, or theMajor Dhyan Chand stadium which hosts the tournament. Just think ofthe backdrop against which India is getting to host the event. We areranked number 11 by the FIH, we failed to qualify for the BeijingOlympics, we are not a hockey superpower anymore; and yet we aregetting an opportunity to redeem ourselves. But what are we doing? Weare making mockery of staging the event by writing endlessly about theelections. Have you read or seen one story on India's preparations forthe World Cup. The answer is no. Whatever position we will get at thetournament is still in realm of conjecture and hope. This is hockey'sOlympics and it is in our backyard, but we are only consumed by thenegative aspects of Hockey India polls. Newspapers are full of HockeyIndia and its elections.
*We have this terrific opportunity in 2010 to put our best footforward in hockey. Three big events, two of them - World Cup andCommonwealth Games - in our very own country, but what are we doingabout it?
Yes, elections are important, but can the World Cup be subsumed by it?We need to give hockey the necessary support, the right kind of pushand impetus. We managed to get a bronze medal in the recentlyconcluded Salta Champions Challenge. We need to take this forward.Hockey is not cricket. It is not played by a handful of Commonwealthnations. Hockey in many ways is a global game, there are as many as140 nations affiliated to the FIH. Europe, Asia, Anzac countries,South Africa, Argentina - everyone is proficient in hockey. We beatArgentina recently in Salta, they have made rapid strides. But peopleforget that even in the 1975 World Cup that we won, we lost toArgentina in the first match. New Zealand is a solid outfit, they wongold at Salta; they were Olympic champions in 1976 Montreal. No sideis a pushover anymore. That is why it is even more vital to supportIndian hockey in a big way.
*What is the way forward then? The players are being kept out ofadministration...
We need to encourage the game, popularise it, take it deeper into thecountry. It is dying and we should try and revive it before it is toolate. Hockey means everything to people like me. We have to save it.Media needs to take an active part in its revival. Write about thegame, its players, not Hockey India and its elections only. Yes, manyof our players are upset with the system, they are so angry that theydon't want to have anything to do with hockey. I also satyed out ofhockey administration. We also need to understand that hockeyadministration is not easy, it comes with its owns set of problems andimponderables. There are times when even I find it difficult. More sobecause in these competitive climes, it is very difficult to do anhonorary job.
Somewhere, we are missing the woods for the trees. IHF or Hockey Indiaare not important. What is important is that Indian hockey needs to begiven a leg up. It needs to be brought up to speed with the bestpractices, systems and processes being followed around the world. Youhave to revitalise Indian hockey.
*How does one go about doing this?
Coaching methods have to be reoriented, a system of accountability hasto be inculcated, India has close to 600 districts; are you telling methat we cannot find good hockey players in this country. IHF or HockeyIndia's job is not to merely send Indian hockey teams abroad to playin tourneys. It has to attack the very basis with which Indian hockeyplayers are being spotted, coached and trained, fitness levels andtechniques, new drills, umpiring, laying of turfs - everything that isconnected to lifting Indian hockey from the mess thsat it finds itselfin. The old apparatus has to be dismantled completely and a newbooster injection has to be given to it.
*You were one of the few to advocate a foreign coach and trainer forthe Indian team so it could bridge the widening chasm that existedbetween it and other superior hockey playing nations...
Of course, you have to make a fresh start. You cannot rest on yourlaurels in professional sport. We have bought in a new foreign coachand trainer, but we also need quality players. Players with verve andflair. Who then form part of a cohesive whole; a unit which functionsas a team. You cannot hope to bring a Pele or a Maradona and create anIndian football team around them and hope to win the World Cup.Firstly you need star players, but equally you need them to blend withthe rest of team so that they play as a unit. Moreover, sport has maderapid strides as has hockey. Science is an integral part of modernhockey. Holistically, we are not spending enough time, effort, energyor money on the game. We have to raise the bar for ourselves.
*Recently, we had a situation where Jose Brasa was saying that ourhockey players in Balewadi were not being given the diet that he hadprescribed and instead were being fed thinly fleshed chickens day inand day out...
Exactly, it is an attitudinal thing. As long as contractors are toldthat they have to give the players a diet within Rs 300 per player,this practice will continue. That is why I am saying that the efficacyof sports science and physical training has to be brought into play.Hamare zamane mein coaching meant six rounds laga do, all that haschanged. Sophisticated systems and processes are being brought tobear, that is the only way forward. Again media has to play a part, ithas to highlight the need for such changes. They should be fasttracking the importance of the World Cup, I guess they have their ownproblems and compulsions... items are sponsored, cricket sells anddominates the pages. Elections are scheduled for January 29 and theWorld Cup starts on February 28...
*You are one of the government observers, what was the tamasha thattook place at the pre Salta camp where a rebellion of senior playerswas talked about? What about your role in the up coming elections?
It was nothing, Sandeep Singh was injured and so couldn't go to Salta.This rebellion was all bakwas, you know how it is with media, paanchki pachas kar dete hain. Media survives on controversies, let us putall this behind us, be positive and think 2010 World Cup.
As part of the process of elections, as government observers we are onthe panel. We have to go beyond affiliation ki ladai. I remember theBhopal IHF elections in 1993 when KPS Gill was the DGP, a cavalcade of80 cars landed at the venue, all the voters were forced to vote infavour of Gill, yeh toh achcha hai ki goli nahin chali. Unfortunately,this tussle over affiliation is part of the same process that has tobe removed completely from Indian hockey. Politicking and politics hasno place in sport.
Hockey Punjab has been formed with the merger of Pepsu and the men'sand women's bodies. Sukhbir Singh Badal is the president and PargatSingh is the secretary. Affiliation is under a cloud because some ofthe votes as part of the merger are suspect. Hockey India has beenratified by the FIH, but it has the mandate to convene ademocratically held election where one body one state one vote is thenorm and this has to be completed before the World Cup on February 28.So, Hockey India and its elections unfortunately have become thebigger news and not the World Cup and its preparations.