Need to unlock potential in Asia: Tayyab

September 10, 2014 11:58 pm | Updated September 11, 2014 09:44 am IST

Tayyab Ikram.

Tayyab Ikram.

Asian hockey is set to touch a new trajectory. The fulcrum is Tayyab Ikram, the CEO. With experience as player, coach, administrator and linguist — he speaks nine languages — the Pakistani born Macau based Tayyab discusses the challenges confronting the AHF in this exclusive interview.

Excerpts:

What are your priorities as the first CEO?

As mentioned by the new President, Prince Abdullah the priority is to develop better understanding among our stakeholders and create a strong relationship with the National Federations. We have to increase our participation and strengthen the second tier and developing nations. Hockey is not the priority in many countries We need to unlock the potential and catch up with the digital era.

Don’t you feel the urgency to inject a lot of vibrancy to catch up with other continental federations, especially EHF?

I agree and disagree. Yes, European hockey has some leading nations. Their performance results and rankings are better. The world ranking is an indicator. It is always a challenge for a Continental federations when the teams do not perform well. But the reasons behind are not easy to express – top nations are facing financial challenges and simply could not meet the high perforamance requirement. In the recent World Cup top nations of Europe also faced the similar challenges. In Asia we are facing more challenges than mere financial problems.

Apart from in India and Pakistan hockey continues to be a minor sport. Even here it is debatable whether hockey is number one or not? What is your observation?

Many more could be included in this list where hockey has some importance even if not the major sport. But we are better off in comparison to other continents.

According to your estimate hockey is gaining ground in areas like Cambodia, Vietnam and North Korea. Can the interest be sustained?

We have a better spread but, honestly, very thin layer of participation. Hockey is played in weaker nations in a limited way. We cannot ignore hockey’s existence there. I have not seen any country struggling to survive. There are no dormant member in Asia.

There is a feeling that Asia not winning any big-ticket events is giving way to other disciplines. What is your assessment?

It is a fact that we are not doing good. The rankings indicate this. I am not sure if other disciplines are benefiting. It is about us not the others.

We need a more professional approach in setting up the high performance targets with essential components such as strong domestic competitions, well regulated training centres, linking high performance needs and requirements. There is a pressing need for organising coaching and coach education using the best of technology and modern tools. If I can count all the desirables then we can revolutionize the whole system.

It is not easy to remain on top. You need a lot of financial investments. Recently we observed many top nations falling away simply because of financial challenges. We have different case studies also like nations with enough financial resources but lacking proper directions. We do have nations with huge potential but withut resources.

On a global level too, hockey is losing its charm. The FIH is on full drive to retain its place in the Olympics. Is it a pessimistic thought?

To some extent, yes. There is a bit of struggle. I don’t know how to describe this. Hockey for spectators and Hockey for results. A comparison is a challenge. Globally we are unable to benchmark our position in the group of prime sports, We are fighting for our space on television.

I don’t think having more coverage on television is a big problem. What is important is how hockey is presented on TV. If you talk from the sub-continental perspective we have lost the glamour because of poor results and not producing icons. The FIH is doing a lot to benchmark our position with its dual objectives to have a better impression worldwide and to meet the criteria IOC has set for the future Olympic Program. However our focus is not to satisfy the IOC criteria. We have to grow positively, satisfy stakeholders, most importantly audiences, athletes, sponsors and national federations.

As the new CEO who is associated with the AHF for more than decade what is plan of action to enlarge the base in Asia?

We need to provide competition opportunities to second tier countries, consider develoing synergy with other stakeholders like the NOCs and Olympic Solidarity to gain more resources.

Being an FIH Master Coach with experience of conducting coaching clinics across the Continent (s) where do you find genuine interest?

Coaching is more professional in western Europe, part of Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), where the value is game development. Taking to coaching as a profession is value added element. I conducted the World Cup High Performance Coaching Course where I observed there is a lot of potential coming up. There was a huge interest; we had 139 applications for 15 positions! an indication of the growing interest. However, participation in coaching course and taking it as a profession are two different things. Coaching and Coach Development stay as the priority for the FIH and our new FIH Academy will become assest in future.

The change in the format-four quarter-a-match-has its pros and cons. What in your estimate are the advantages, and, shortcomings, if any?

I would say that since we are entering into this new system later this month some teams did not have enough time to pratice, specially teams which are playing World League Round 1 during the first week of September.I agree about the pros and cons but let Asia experience this before I comment.

Though FIH objectives are clear the only remark I can make is that we are expecting more fast-paced play and teams may keep their key players for more time on the pitch. Lets just see in the Asian Games how these four quarters will played by different teams.

Q: Do you think countries accustomed to the 70-minute format for over a century will be able to adapt the change without a problem? Is it for high TV ratings?

Yes, the FIH had its deliberations to attract the audience and to improve our impression on TV. I am sure that players will adapt to the change easily. So far whatever the new rules and regulations our athletes have adapted them successfully.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.