Batra is right to take a stand but boycotting Pakistan will also hurt Indian hockey

Hockey India president Narinder Batra is right. Unfortunately, he is also wrong.

He is right to take a stand against the FIH tournament director’s initial decision not to punish the Pakistan players who made abusive gestures at the crowd after beating India in the semi-finals of the Champions Trophy in Bhubhaneshwar.

Tournament Director Wiert Doyer’s explanation was that it was “difficult to find any particular miscreant, and it is possible that the behaviour of the players may have been a reaction. Mr. Shahnaz Sheikh has apologised and assured me that this behaviour will not occur again. Given these matters, I’ve decided that no further action is warranted.”

While any provocation is also wrong, and there tremendous pressure in any India-Pakistan match, the FIH should at least have issued a warning to the players. By allowing provocation to be used as an excuse, it sends the signal that such behaviour is excusable, which of course it should not be. Understandable, perhaps, but not excusable.

Unfortunately, Batra is the wrong in the way he has gone about it.

Batra was wrong to say India may not host any more of their tournaments but said in a Facebook post that “there will now be no friendly series on annual basis with Pakistan until an unconditional apology is received from Pakistan Hockey Federation on the uncouth and undesired behaviour of their Athletes with spectators and media after the semi finals on 13 December 2014.”

For one thing, making threats from a position of power is the way of the bully. There are other more diplomatic ways to get your point across. By attempting to blackmail the FIH and Pakistan, he has cost India the high road.

For another, the ban hurts Indian hockey as much as it does Pakistan hockey, as Pakistan’s hockey coach pointed out.

“The two countries need to play hockey against each other,” Shahnaz Sheikh said. “Until and unless we don’t play against each other sub-continent hockey will never flourish.”

Refusing to host tournaments or let India play Pakistan does a disservice to the fans too. There is no rivalry in sport – any sport – that approaches the passion and intensity of India vs Pakistan. The tortured history of the two countries and their combined success in sports such as hockey and cricket make them natural rivals. Add rabid fan bases in both countries and you have a mixture that is always at boiling point.

If India does not host FIH tournaments, Indian fans will be denied the opportunity to root and holler for their team in person. It will also deny the players the opportunity to play their No. 1 rival in front of home crowds. Nothing good can come from such abstinence.

Then there is the question of provocation. After the Times of India posted a photo of the Pakistan players making abusive gestures to the crowd, Facebook user Nirab Gouda posted this comment:

“Though it was very dissapointing (sic) for the pakistan (sic) players to do such thing but I was present in the stands….front row and I am sure they never did any wrong gesture towards indian (sic) players but did that for the crowd….But their gesture towards us was very ovius (sic) as during the whole match indian (sic) spectators had abused them to d core…they had behaved like hooligans and the players finally did this.”

Batra does not address the conduct of possibly abusive fans at all. Fans should be held to the same standard as players. Anyone found being abusive should be evicted. For anyone who doubts that Indian fans can be ill-behaved, footage of India’s 1996 cricket World Cup semi-final against Sri Lanka stands as Exhibit A. The game had to be called off because fans set the stadium on fire.

Since Batra’s statement, FIH has slapped a one-match ban on two players and suspended another. Pakistan’s coach has also apologised.

“I agree it was not sportsmanship,” Shaikh said. “I have already apologized for that. I am thankful to the media and Hockey India. Their arrangements were tremendous. We thank them for providing all the facilities. We are taking home good memories from here.”

But this is not enough for Batra, who told the Times of India it is “just an eyewash”.

“We thank FIH for their decision but it’s not just about two players,” Batra said . “Our stand is clear that we are not going to play Pakistan unless an unconditional apology is received from Pakistan Hockey Federation on the uncouth and undesired behaviour of their athletes.”

It is likely that Pakistan will cave. But the insistence on getting the federation to beg forgiveness appears to be just about Batra’s ego. It appears nothing less than Pakistan’s capitulation will satisfy him and damn the consequences.

In the last few months, India have played two high pressure, high stakes games. India won the gold medal in the Asian Games in shootout after a gritty, defense-first final while Pakistan came up trumps in the Champions Trophy in free-flowing, seven-goal thriller.

Both teams appear to be going through a revival in fortunes after struggling in recent times. We should be reveling in their rivalry. Instead, we are talking about boycotting it.

Batra is also the man who opposed giving coach Terry Walsh a new contract after India won Asian Games gold.

You can typically count on an Indian sports administrator to miss the bigger picture. This is especially true of Indian hockey, which has been all but ruined by officials more interested in power than performance. It should worry all hockey fans that Batra is showing signs of going down the same road.