Consider the following scenario. There is a group of people with super-special skills. They undergo rigorous training for 8 hours a day,6 days a week,11 months a year. They represent the nation and they compete against the best in the world. What they do has the potential to bring unimaginable pride and joy to millions of their countrymen starved of success in their national sport. Dont these men deserve to get paid for what they do?
Yes,I am talking about the players from the Indian hockey team and they do deserve to get paid.
Forget about Shah Rukh Khan and A.R. Rahman. Lets talk about the average bloke on the street who has a regular 9-to-5 job. Is he expected to work month after month,year after year,and not get paid? Of course he will be paid. If not,he will move on to doing something else which will give him just financial rewards for his efforts.
The past couple of years have witnessed a worrying trend: of Indias top hockey players opting not to play for the country in international tournaments,and instead preferring to represent their employers in domestic hockey tournaments. I have been through this dilemma myself in the recent past. On the surface,this might seem to be a great surprise. Any hockey player dreams of donning the Indian jersey and playing in major tournaments like the Olympics and the World Cup. More so,when the World Cup is on your home soil. Then why would some of Indias top players not bother to even attend the training camps?
The answer is simple. Their employers pay them much better to represent their company teams in domestic tournaments. The players get put up in very good hotels by their employers; they travel by air; they are treated with a great deal of respect. There is a limit to how much pride one can have to play for the country. Beyond a certain point,after having represented the country for a while with a great deal of distinction,an international hockey player like any normal person starts thinking about his future and his family. He also needs to put food on the table and a roof above his head. He needs to foot his medical insurance premiums because he knows that the day he gets injured,he will get discarded like he never existed.
Not just the players,I firmly believe that everyone associated with the sport has to be a paid professional,be it the coaching staff,the support staff,the administrators,the selectors or the people who market the game. If we want to rise above the mediocrity that currently exists in the sports system,everyone has to be paid his dues on merit. All honorary posts should be abolished in Indian sport.
Every single Indian wants to see the Indian hockey players playing like brave warriors on the field for the country,giving a hundred per cent and more in every single match. But hockey is a brutal physical sport. It inflicts a heavy toll on the body. If we dont pay our players well,if we dont give them the best nutrition and medical support and training facilities,we dont have the right to demand that elusive gold medal.
I dont believe that Hockey India does not want to pay the players. The issue here is where the money is going to come from. The money will come by way of sponsorship through intelligent and aggressive marketing of the game and efficient administration. I would love to see Hockey India moving quickly and decisively to solve the payment dispute. Involve the players and the sponsors in a positive dialogue to end the impasse. Treat the players with the respect they deserve,and you will see a changed Indian team at the World Cup.
This issue has resulted in a kind of player unity not seen in a long time. My friends in Hockey India,please do not lose this opportunity to take a path-breaking step for Indian hockey,a step that will encourage thousands of parents across the country to want their kids to try and become the next Dhanraj Pillay.
The writer is a former captain of the Indian hockey team
express@expressindia.com
