Reducing referee errors, making league more compact

On the final day of the men’s Hockey India League in Rourkela, the magnificent Birsa Munda Stadium was nearly jam-packed, with the fan count estimated to have crossed 20,000. The craze to get inside was so much, that there were thousands of fans who had to be turned away at the gates, even leading to a bit of a security concern at one point during the evening. The quality of the final, where Bengal Tigers beat Hyderabad Toofans 4-3 in a thriller, made it a grand closing act for the league’s return after 7 years.“To be honest, that’s why we come here, that’s why we play this league,” Vincent Vanasch, one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, told The Indian Express after his Soorma Hockey Club finished third. “We already knew this with the national team, now we know it can happen in HIL too. It was spectacular.”
Looking back, the quality of matches in both the leagues were undoubtedly close to world-class, and the entertainment factor rarely dipped, as both Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey and India men’s coach Craig Fulton pointed out. But, looking ahead, there are a few teething issues that need to be addressed for the league to improve as a product.
01Things for HIL to improve
Better marketing: A buzz was missing about the league apart from on-ground footfall
Refereeing levels: Some franchise officials, and one veteran overseas player, critical of umpiring standards
Broadcast quality: With Doordarshan as the official partner, the viewing experience was often jarring
Condensed league, more venues: Long breaks between matches and starting the league at the end of December cameunder criticism.
More auction purse: A cap of Rs 2 crore for women’s teams and Rs 4 crore for men has been cited as insufficient.

Refereeing makes
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Vanasch’s counterpart from Tamil Nadu Dragons, for instance, wasn’t in such a happy mood on the final day. Not only did his side finish fourth, but he was still hurting from the nature of the semifinal defeat 24 hours earlier. “Absolutely gutted,” Harte said, referring to a black stick call that went against Dragons in the sudden death, that would have otherwise given them the win right then. “When you put yourself into a semi-final you are only after one thing and that was taken away from us really unfair circumstances. We were robbed. We were told that we couldn’t appeal it. Some regulations are rubbish,” the Irish veteran said.
A couple of other franchise officials too told The Indian Express that the level of officiating in the league was not up to the mark. One added that there were significant blunders throughout the season but hoped having a larger pool of international referees would help next season.
Broadcast quality
Another point raised franchise officials, and even fans on social media, was the poor broadcasting quality. Hockey India brought on Doordarshan as the official broadcasting partner for this edition (later Sony Sports came into the picture, but the production was still DD). The viewing experience was jarring, with unnecessary camera angle changes often leading to action being missed at critical times. An apparent lack of understanding of how to present a hockey match on television was evident.
Staying in Rourkela for over a month proved to be a challenge, too, even though teams found a way to stay entertained. But with Hockey India deciding to stick to two venues for the two leagues this season, things got a bit monotonous midway, especially in the men’s edition.Story continues below this ad
Condense the league
“Some of the players gave us the feedback that the league is quite long,” former India goalkeeper AB Subbaiah and Kalinga Lancers manager told The Indian Express. “There are unnecessary breaks, like four days off, which could be reduced. A one-day gap between matches is often sufficient. They must consider double-headers on days other than just weekends. Starting the league in the first week of January would be better. Players can enjoy New Year’s with family and have a week of training before the start. January 8 or 9, would be ideal. But ultimately, our players were all really happy.”
Like Subbaiah, Toofans’ team director Siddharth Pandey called for more venues too. “I would love for Hockey India to be a caravan traveling from city to city to broaden the sport. Rourkela is great, but not ideal to be in one place. I’d love for the foreign players to experience India more. Taking them to Punjab, the heart of Indian Hockey, for instance. Or Bengaluru, and our home in Hyderabad, where we had a beautiful camp. That is mandatory.”
Increase auction purse, number of venues
“More marketing is needed because this time we had less time to promote the league,” Tirkey said, when asked what has been the main feedback from franchises. “We will talk with the franchise owners. We also want the capping of the purse for the women’s and men’s teams (currently at Rs 2 crore and 4 crores respectively) to increase. So that all the players get involved in it… but the good thing is that the owners are showing interest in how we can make it better. So, this is a very good thing for us,”
“The season felt a bit long,” Tigers’ title-winning coach Colin Batch told this daily. “Eight teams are a good number, and the tournament structure is fine too, but we played only two games in 10 days at one stage. That could have been avoided. They can definitely condense the tournament.”Story continues below this ad
Tirkey is aware of these concerns too. “There have been discussions about other venues as well. There’s a possibility of having multiple venues because if it’s one venue throughout, the crowd numbers go up and down. So, that’s why we are also thinking that it (venues) should increase next year.”
But the overall sentiment from overseas players was one of satisfaction, from as many inputs one could gather on the ground. Dutchman Jip Janssen, one of the best players in the world right now who had told this daily earlier that he was so eager to play in the league because he grew up watching his compatriots and club seniors play in the previous iteration, said: “Not much (I’d change), I am really happy with how the league went. If it’d be possible to continue to organise this without interfering with our national team programs, that’d be good. I’ve never seen such a tournament so well organised, so I hope to be here next year.”