Re-branding hockey!
India seems to have done wonders by selling the Hockey World Cup in a big way.
By Abdul Ahad Farshori
You do not have to be a student of marketing to understand the fact that it is not easy to take up a tarnished and almost forgotten brand and turn it into a successful product. The Indians knows how to do it and they keep on doing it again and again. May it be turning the domestic cricket around in the form of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) -- the biggest brand in cricket as far as money is concerned. And this time around, it was hockey that got the blessings of India's marketing gurus. Advertisers have finally started looking beyond the bat and ball and began lining up for its 'poor cousin' -- hockey.

Match-fixing is a common practice: Ijaz Butt
The PCB chief is an unwanted man running Pakistan's cricket show!
By Dr Nauman Niaz
"Match fixing is a common practice," said PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt. "Investigation is going on to ascertain if Pakistani players are involved in it," he further elaborated. And, as he is prone to do, he stunned quite a few, almost all the scribes and correspondents in attendance at a press conference by revealing that two Pakistani players were suspected to be involved in match-fixing. It was like jumping the gun one too soon, and such blabbering has been virtual commonality since Butt took over the PCB in October 2008. Ill-timed disclosures followed by prompt retractions. It was shambolic to read through the names of the six-member committee that has been set up to ascertain the reasons for Pakistan's chaotic performance in Australia.

Corruption in cricket
By Malik Arshad Gilani p.s.n
In all sports the growth of earnings, value of sponsorships and other financial rewards has regrettably led to individuals giving into their baser instincts to make a quick buck. In cricket even when Gentlemen were separated from the Players (Professionals), match-fixing was evident.

Lessons to learn from Dhaka Games
If you can meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same -- Rudyard Kipling
By Asad Hasan
With the euphoria surrounding the 100-metre triumph by Pakistani athlete Naseem Hameed after she became South Asia's fastest woman by winning the 100-metre race in the regional games in Dhaka, Bangladesh, having still not abated, it is time we gave a careful look at this event, and what lessons we may learn from our participation in such events.

For Pakistan hockey it was a heaven-sent opportunity. For once, the entire nation had put aside its craze for cricket and was glued to the TV sets across the country to watch the national team lock horns with arch-rivals India.

It was the opening match of the World Cup for both the former Asian giants and was played in front of a packed Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi at prime time on Sunday night in front of a global audience.

With their relatively higher world ranking and a terrific recent track record against the Indians, Pakistan were seen as the favourites to win the eagerly-awaited encounter and give their World Cup campaign a perfect start.

More importantly, a good showing in that match would have come as a much-needed shot in the arm for Pakistan hockey that has been complaining for years that its fan base has shrunk as almost all of the country's sports fans have switched allegiance to cricket.

With the Pakistani cricketers flopping regularly in recent times, what hockey needs is to start producing good results at the world stage to win back the fans. A win against India in New Delhi would have been a perfect start for a new chapter for Pakistan hockey.

But the Greenshirts just blew it!

The team's coaches have blamed their charges' inability to cope with pressure while their critics underlined the fact that the Pakistanis were visibly under-prepared for a major event like the World Cup. Whatever the reasons but one thing is for sure: Pakistani players squandered what for many of them was a once in a lifetime opportunity to hog the limelight.

Even the harshest of Pakistan team critics wouldn't have predicted an overwhelming 4-1 triumph for the Indians, whom Pakistan had convincingly beaten in their last three meetings in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup and the Asia Cup in Malaysia and the Champions Challenge in Argentina last year.

On paper, Pakistan seemed to be the better team with accomplished players like short corner specialist Sohail Abbas, Rehan Butt, Zeeshan Ashraf and Salman Akber in their side. But it were the Indians who sparkled like real stars in the match.

While luck deserted Sohail Abbas, who hit the crossbar on a couple of occasions and scored just one goal off five attempts, it smiled on Sandeep Singh -- the comeback drag flicker -- who struck twice to lead India's charge.

Pakistan never really recovered after making a dreadfully slow start. In contrast, the Indians dominated the first half and later managed to keep the Pakistanis at bay in the final session. In the end, they earned what was a deserving victory.

Pakistan did bounce back by edging out Spain 2-1 in a close battle in their next Group B match only to get thrashed by England 5-2 in their third outing of the 12-nation competition.

Pakistan came across as a more organised unit against the Spaniards but went on to cement their reputation of being an inconsistent team by getting hammered at the hands of England, the reigning European champions.

With two losses in three games, Pakistan's chances of making the World Cup semifinals for the first time since 1994 seemed pretty bleak. They had two more pool games -- against (South Africa played on Saturday) and finally Australia -- but after surrendering tamely to the English, were left praying for a miracle to keep their World Cup hopes alive.

Pakistan's below-par showing isn't entirely unexpected. They are languishing at number seven in the world rankings and have not done well in a major event since making the semifinals of the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney. Their last major title came in 1994 when they won the World Cup but since then the Greenshirts haven't done better than a fifth position in the quadrennial spectacle in three attempts in 1998, 2002 and 2006.

Even before crossing the Wagah Border last month, Pakistani officials had made it clear that the World Cup wasn't their target as they were setting their sights on the Asian Games to be held in China later this year.

Such statements reflected the sort of confidence that they had in their players and could have contributed to the poor showing in the matches against India and England. You cannot go to a World Cup saying that your team is not good enough for it and was in fact waiting for a lesser event to show that it's capable of winning a title.

Pakistan may have taken a tumble in the world rankings over the years but it's a fact that they are the most successful nation in World Cup history. It's like Brazil going into the Football World Cup with an announcement that the world title wasn't their target as they were instead preparing to win the Copa America!

It will be great if Pakistan go on and win back the Asian Games crown later this year but what about the task at hand? The World Cup is the biggest event on the international hockey stage and it was the duty of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to make it its major goal of 2010.

Pakistan's unimpressive performance in New Delhi means that in spite of tall claims made by the PHF, our national team continues to be an unreliable outfit. It certainly has the capability to shine like it did against the Spaniards -- the Olympic silver medalists -- but its more prone to coming up with the sort of flops that it produced against India.

Pakistan seem doomed to suffer yet another World Cup heartbreak after raising their own hopes by winning a World Cup qualifying event in France and reaching the final in the Asia Cup and Champions Challenge in 2009.

They went to the Indian capital amidst high hopes and after receiving hefty rewards from Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who gave the team 20 million rupees just days before its departure for New Delhi, hoping that the cash injection will pump the national players ahead of the World Cup. Unfortunately, it hasn't worked.

Since clinching gold at the 1984 Olympics, Pakistan had not won a global title. In 1993, they had their worst result at continental level. At the 4th Asia Cup in Hiroshima (1993), Pakistan -- winners of all three previous editions -- went down 0-4 to South Korea in the semis.

The then PHF president, Farooq Umer took serious stock of the situation. He had already taken a revolutionary step by affiliating a foreign coach to the national team, the fabled Dutchman Hans Jorritsma who had guided his home nation to a memorable World Cup victory in 1990.

For the 1994 Champions Trophy, a new post of 'chief manager' was created. Olympian Khawaja Zakauddin, who had been manager/coach of the side many a time in the past, was chosen to act as chief manager over manager Abdul Rasheed Jr and coach Saeed Khan.

Pakistan performed satisfactorily in the two high-profile tournaments in Holland and Malaysia without winning either. However, certain happenings off the pitch meant all was not well.

Rasheed Jr, quite popular with the players, had been demoted to assistant manager for the European tour with Zakauddin assuming the top post. The new chief manager post lasted only through the Champions Trophy but before the Azlan Shah tournament, Rasheed was removed from the management role altogether, with Jorritsma taking up the role of assistant manager.

In the Asian Games, also in Hiroshima, Pakistan failed to reach the semifinals and hence it resulted in Zakauddin being removed whilst Rasheed was recalled as manager.

Rasheed made some sensible changes. Full-back Rana Mujahid was recalled and so was that great left-winger Waseem Feroze.

In the opening tie against Argentina, Pakistan held the upper hand in the first-half and went ahead through Kamran Ashraf via an indirect drill on a penalty-corner.

Tahir Zaman then converted a penalty stroke in the 60th minute before victory was sealed through a beautiful field goal by Waseem Feroze.

Tragic news came to the Pakistan camp before the next match against Spain. Ace forward Tahir Zaman's father had expired in Pakistan. In a highly praiseworthy act of patriotism, Tahir decided to stay on. Pakistan's problems were then compounded by a mysterious stomach rash illness to centre-forward turned right-out Asif Bajwa.

Against Spain, Kamran put Pakistan ahead before Spain restored parity. Then, with Tahir sidelined with a yellow card, a draw seemed likely. However, with just 10 minutes to go, Shahbaz exploded into action.

With his brilliant approach work, he set up two excellent scoring opportunities within one minute. First Kamran and then Waseem made no mistake to see Pakistan home 3-1.

Next up for Pakistan were the hosts. A packed Homebush stadium saw the home team calling the shots early in the game but the Greenshirts gained their rhythm soon and a classic battle ensued.

In the 22nd minute, a Pakistan attack resulted in Australia conceding a penalty stroke and Tahir Zaman put Pakistan ahead.

Early in the second half, perhaps the most captivating few seconds of the entire fortnight were witnessed. Shahbaz, 'the electric heels', took off from his own half, leaving the bewildered Aussie defence trailing in his wake. Reaching the Australian circle, he set up the goal for Kamran on a platter for an easy tap in.

Shahbaz's darting run had made the Australian crowd stand up overawed by the maestro's speed and artistry. But the magnificent piece of skill resulted in Shahbaz pulling up his hamstring and he limped out from the scene of his triumph like a lord. Seeing their tormenter leave the arena, perhaps gave the shell-shocked Kookaburras some relief. They soon reduced the margin via a penalty stroke but the equaliser eluded them.

Pakistan's great win took its toll. In the next tie against England, they were not only without the injured Shahbaz but also missed Tahir (having picked up his second yellow card). With Bajwa still on bed, Pakistan didn't even have five forwards.

Half-backs Irfan Mahmood and Junaid took turns with full-back Mujahid to fill the fifth forward slot. No surprise Pakistan went down to England 0-2.

In the last pool game, against the World Cup debutants Belarus, Pakistan needed a draw to make the last four and a win to head the pool. Two field goals by the prolific striker Kamran saw Pakistan through.

In the semis, Pakistan came across Germany. Pakistan started on a determined note and it took them 18 minutes to split the German defence open with Kamran finding the net.

Just four minutes later, the Germans drew level through a penalty-corner. The second half was also more or less evenly-fought with both the sides squandering chances and the match entered into a penalty shoot-out. The tie-breaker turned out to be more or less an action replay of that of the Champions Trophy final the same year in Lahore. Only one man from the either side misfired then and it was ironic that it was the same person this time around; Germany's captain Blunk.

For the first time in World Cup history, the two finalists from the last edition figured in the final. In 1990, it was Floris Jan Bovlander's prowess on the penalty-corners that broke the hearts of 70,000 fans at Lahore. It was Bovelander again in 1994 who put to rest the Aussies' dreams by blasting two goals in the first 20 minutes for a 3-1 victory for Holland in the semifinal.

This time around, the mighty Dutch had another weapon. Taco van den Honert, had been deadlier, scoring 11 goals to Bovelander's five till then. Another alarming factor was the Pakistan sick-bed. Six players were carrying an ailment of some sort. Their Dutch physio did wonders making all the players fit for the final countdown.

To counter the Dutch's penalty-corner force, video analysis provided the answer. Hans Jorritsma went minutely through all the videotapes. To hoodwink their opponents, the Dutch employed two pairs on penalty-corners. It was thus difficult for the opponents to judge to whom the ball would go; to Van Honert to be flicked or to Bovelander to be hit.

Jorritsma observed that when Bovelander had to make the strike he would stand about one metre behind to gain momentum before unleashing his shot. On the other hand, when it was van Honert's turn, Bovelander would just stand on the edge of the circle. Now Pakistan knew before hand which of the two to rush on.

Holland were still the favourites. And the holders forced three penalty-corners in quick succession. On the third penalty corner in the 17th minute, it seemed history was set to repeat itself after four years. Bovelander's fierce carpet shot penetrated Pakistan's defensive wall. It seemed like deja vu. But this time the men in green quickly regrouped. Within four minutes the scores were leveled again with Kamran scoring a classic striker's goal (his eighth of the tournament).

Early in the second half, there was some drama. The Dutch skipper claimed a goal from a long corner and the entire Dutch squad started celebrating.

Pakistan's persistent protest made Australian umpire Prior consult the other umpire, the highly respected Spaniard Deo, who told that no Dutch stick had touched the ball in the circle. Prior reversed his decision -- the correctness of which was supported by the lack of any Dutch protest.

Pakistan's attacking play gained more momentum with some slick moves. At times it seemed there were only Pakistanis on the pitch. Shortly afterwards, Shahbaz Junior burst into an amazing dribbling run, zig-zagging past no less than five opponents only to see his attempt blocked by the goalkeeper.

The World Cup final entered into a penalty shoot-out.

Bovelander, the set-piece master, threw wide the second one. Next everyone scored. So when Shafqat came forward to take the last shot for Pakistan, he would have fetched the World Cup. To the horror of tens of millions of Pakistanis, his feeble push went straight to Jansen. Now young Delmee had to get past Mansoor to equalise. Mansoor dived to his right to save and now the World Cup was coming to Pakistan for the fourth time.

There was only one man in the stadium who rejoiced as much as in 1990. Jorritsma had guided his native Holland to the World Cup victory four years back but this time he was with the Pakistan team.

Re-branding hockey!

You do not have to be a student of marketing to understand the fact that it is not easy to take up a tarnished and almost forgotten brand and turn it into a successful product. The Indians knows how to do it and they keep on doing it again and again. May it be turning the domestic cricket around in the form of the lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) -- the biggest brand in cricket as far as money is concerned. And this time around, it was hockey that got the blessings of India's marketing gurus. Advertisers have finally started looking beyond the bat and ball and began lining up for its 'poor cousin' -- hockey.

Hockey is a game which almost is almost forgotten and has almost disappeared from our lives. A reason was that it disappeared from the TV screens.

Talking about Pakistan, the following of hockey diminished when the media began defining the Y2K generation; at a time when hockey was in a very sorry state. The following that it may have had is owed to the radical changes in the infrastructure and the media's support.

Hockey retreated to the peripheries of newspapers and our memories until the World Cup rolled on last week. If the ongoing World Cup is being considered as a success, then the Indians deserve the credit.

According to reports, more than a dozen advertisers have bought on-air time. The channel broadcasting the World Cup from New Delhi expects to generate a revenue of around Rs20 crores from on-air sponsors while other promotions, mainly on ground, are expected to generate another Rs10-15 crores during the 14-day tournament -ó the first for hockey.

Big advertisers or the main sponsors of the event including Hero Honda, Coca Cola, ING Life insurance, MTS and Seagram have bought air time for the Hockey World Cup, being organised by International Hockey Federation (FIH) from 1971.

A speculation may be that the extravaganza is attracting sponsors because it is being played in the capital ahead of the IPL, which begins on March 12. Main sponsor of the tournament, Hero Honda, is using sports and film celebrities including Virender Sehwag, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Priyanka Chopra among others to promote the World Cup. They have also managed to rename hockey stick as 'Jadu ki Chari' (magic wand).

Although, the sponsorship and TV commercial spots for the World Cup, to be held in India, are several times cheaper than for high-profile cricket matches, the February 28-March 13 tournament, is selling 10-second advertisement spots for between Rs35,000 and Rs50,000. A similar spot during the IPL or the recently held Test matches between India and South Africa was sold at Rs3.5 lakhs.

The World Cup offered presenting sponsorship rights for Rs2 crores and co-presenting rights for between Rs60 lakh and Rs70 lakh. In contrast, deals of sponsorship in IPL are predicted to be of Rs35 crore or more.

In India, the World Cup has marked the action time for big advertisers such as consumer electronics firms, FMCG companies and automakers to unleash a sports marketing spending spree which the sub continent has never seen -- an estimated Rs2,200 crore.

Sporting events to brand a product after the hockey extravaganza include the IPL, FIFA World Cup 2010, Commonwealth Games and the World Twenty20 Championship.

Media planners and creative heads of the giant corporates in India are not only working overtime but are also gearing up for more work. And no matter how much money-centered we consider them to be, even the worst of their critics have to accept the fact that Indians sure know how to re-brand a product; let alone brand it!

"Match fixing is a common practice," said PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt. "Investigation is going on to ascertain if Pakistani players are involved in it," he further elaborated. And, as he is prone to do, he stunned quite a few, almost all the scribes and correspondents in attendance at a press conference by revealing that two Pakistani players were suspected to be involved in match-fixing. It was like jumping the gun one too soon, and such blabbering has been virtual commonality since Butt took over the PCB in October 2008. Ill-timed disclosures followed by prompt retractions. It was shambolic to read through the names of the six-member committee that has been set up to ascertain the reasons for Pakistan's chaotic performance in Australia.

Amongst others is also present on the list, the name of Wasim Akram, himself questioned for his alleged involvement in match-fixing in 1999-2000 in a judicial inquiry report. Contradictions! Akram no doubt is a cricketing genius but also had a tale to hide!

When grilled incessantly to name the two players being suspect for their involvement with the bookmakers, the PCB chairman took a U-turn and tried complicating the statement suggesting that he was talking about an 'old' case -- How embarrassing? This backing off has actually killed the divine essence of the Pakistani game. For how long we have to tolerate, sustain or keep up with him?

It is a shame that we have not only been isolated but only very recently, there have been reports that the ICC and also the BCCI are genuinely uncomfortable with Butt's presence and there were suggestions made by the Indian board that in case if he wasn't heading Pakistan cricket, the scene could change dramatically and they may well allow reincarnation of an enviable relationship between the two boards, our cricketers being permitted to partake in the money-spinning, cash-filled and hugely lucrative IPL. He is an unwanted man running Pakistan's cricket show within the country and worldwide!

Self-infliction is what we end up with. We need stately management of such issues, directly reflecting upon the integrity, conviction and presence as a 'nation'. When are we going to refine our methods of cricket management? As in many areas of sports administration, the field of moral education is rife with controversy. At the heart of the matter is whether we can point to a set of moral values that would form the basis of an overlapping consensus that would permit approaches to moral education that appeal to more than local or particularistic values. Without such consensus the incommensurable qualities of local values would render shared notions of a moral community impossible.

A related issue is whether there are features of individual psychology which can be appealed to in fostering the development of cricketers who would act in accordance with such common or transcendent moral values. Controversies notwithstanding, the past decade have witnessed a great deal of failure with regard to our understanding of these issues.

As the chairman of the PCB, Butt should have approached the problem, if notified by the ICC about alleged involvement of two Pakistan players in match-fixing with divergent, though overlapping interests and differing sets of assumptions about the nature of social development, socialisation and tactfully manipulating and methodising means to reach to decisions instead of waffling during a press conference. He could have held back the allegations unless until the nature of players' involvement and the evidence, if any, was understood and the perspectives put on the table.

Butt should have known, it would appear then, that the divergent aims of his rhetoric and proclamations keeping in view the moral reasoning, and the development of 'characterological' propensities for moral follow through are both desirable and necessary components of any educational contribution to society's moral growth. Mr. Butt should have acted responsibly, pulling information from diverse sources and to construct a coherent picture integrating all sets of concern.

He should have shared the allegations only if he was clear about the impact of his revelations. In contrast, Butt was only conjecturing and sharing the unattested information.

Media named Rana Naved Ul Hasan and Kamran Akmal as the two players involved in match-fixing. Where is the evidence? Evidence in its broadest sense includes everything that is used to determine or demonstrate the truth of an assertion.

If Butt had it then he should have been revealing otherwise he could still cut a sorry figure. He should have known evidence that suggests truth as opposed to evidence that directly proves truth.

The burden of proof is the burden of providing sufficient evidence to shift a conclusion from an oppositional opinion. Butt frittered another opportunity to attract congenial comments; he was again incoherent, impetuous and oblivious. What he was sharing was anecdotal evidence.

Since October 2008, Butt in power, Pakistan cricket has experienced terrorism, player power, indiscipline, ball-biting and tampering, instability, resignations, isolation, retractions, match-fixing and a host of other quandaries. Is anything left to be revealed, or we should now assume that Pakistan cricket would continue to suffer? This two-year suffering has been painful and it seems, if Ijaz Butt remains in the office, it would be a case of universal suffrage!

In all sports the growth of earnings, value of sponsorships and other financial rewards has regrettably led to individuals giving into their baser instincts to make a quick buck. In cricket even when Gentlemen were separated from the Players (Professionals), match-fixing was evident.

At various times, bowlers were known to use Vaseline or other such preparations to keep the shine on the ball so that the ball could continue to swing. This led on to roughening one side of the ball to promote reverse-swing. In extreme cases, it has been recorded that even the pitches were doctored to assist one side or the other. In effect, 'tampering' took place.

Players stretched the laws to the limits and in other cases bent them to take undue advantage. The law-makers from time to time amended the rules to try to prevent this kind of cheating, and let us face it; it is cheating when one takes undue or illegal advantage of any facility which is denied to the other side.

Match-fixing of course was indulged by either individuals or by institutions that were involved in gambling. Ball tampering and other such actions were at times carried out to just win at all costs or to improve ones individual performance. So much for the philosophy connected to these acts. The fact is that whenever people indulge in actions that mean to take illegal advantage it is cheating. Therefore, I do not differentiate between match fixing and ball tampering. They are wrong because the laws as they stand declare them both illegal.

After all who is to decide in any specific case as to why ball tampering is being done!

Pakistan cricket, sadly, has managed these matters very badly and thus created a bad aura around their players. This is not to say that all our players are lily white but they certainly are not guiltier than any of the other teams of the ICC. We will recall that in the distant past two Australian players alleged that a Pakistan player made illegal suggestions to them to fix some matches. Subsequent investigations uncovered no evidence that could stand up in a court of law to back the allegations. It was discovered, however, that the Australian players admitted to assisting bookies with their opinions regarding pitches. This was considered wrong and they were duly chastised and fined by their Board. On our side we went to town with rumour mongering and were ready to damn our players even if there was no proof. The ultimate in this was that the CEO of the PCB publicly stated that Pakistan players were indulging in match-fixing.

This holier than the Pope attitude may get him advantages in the next world but certainly indicated that he was a bad CEO. A notable member of the Supreme Court who had also been the Chief Justice of the Sindh High Court Justice Fakhruddin Ebrahim was requested by the PCB to examine all the evidence available and found no evidence against our players.

On another occasion, one of our own leading cricketers publicly charged that some of his teammates were also involved in this crime.

The result of all these acts is that Pakistan became known world wide as the producer of match-fixers.

The reason this article is being written is not to cover up or defend any cricketer who indulges in such illegal acts but to suggest that it is vital to keep a sense of balance when we damn our own players. The most important part of this balance is to ensure that guilt must be proven beyond any shadow of doubt as required by law. Anything short of that could be considered as the law of the jungle. Let us note that many of our noted politicians presently in power have been charged by their opponents for corruption and many such cases have been dragged in the courts of law for some twenty years or more. In no case so far has any body been able to prove the allegations and one could almost suggest that this is tantamount to victimisation. Why should our cricketers deserve any less justice?

There are a number of our players who have been charged and fined by the PCB for having been involved in activities that were illegal. They must not be hired by the PCB as coaches, managers, trainers. If the PCB has the courage of its convictions then they must state that the actions of the Board's of the time were wrong and judgments were without authority. The names of the players must be cleared. If for any reason the PCB is not bold enough make such a decision then hiring such players will be perceived by the world as condoning cheating.

malikgilani2002@gmail.com