Indian hockey is dying due to Astroturf and mismanagement: Aslam Sher Khan

New Delhi. Veteran player and former Olympian Aslam Sher Khan has lamented the ‘decline of Indian hockey’ in the last few decades, blaming AstroTurf (artificial turf) and mismanagement at the top level, and called for playing on natural grass grounds again to regain the lost prestige of the game. India has won eight gold medals in hockey at the Olympic Games, but the last one was in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. The Indian team, however, ended the medal drought of the last 41 years by winning a bronze medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.

India followed this with a dismal performance in the World Cup in Odisha earlier this year, which Aslam termed as the ‘death of hockey in India’. “It is with great sadness that I have to announce the death of hockey in India,” Aslam, a former parliamentarian and a hero of India’s 1975 World Cup victory, said in an open letter to the country’s hockey lovers. “This happened in the World Cup played in Rourkela (and Bhubaneswar) in Odisha in January this year, in which India finished ninth despite the Odisha government spending Rs 1,000 crore.” The beginning was, according to me, with the use of astroturf in the 1976 Montreal Olympics.” He attributed the decline of Indian hockey to “criminal mismanagement” by Hockey India and the state sports federations. Aslam said, “The reason for this downfall is not that there is a lack of talent in India, but it was the criminal mismanagement of successively elected officials of the national and state units over the years.”

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He said, “They have successfully destroyed the entire infrastructure and goodwill that has been built up over the last several decades.” He said, “Now the only solution to revive Indian hockey is to start playing again on natural grass grounds. All tournaments and the Premier League must be played on natural grass surfaces. It will attract the spectators again.” Aslam further added, “India is a globally respected power today and once we show the world the ability to play hockey on a natural grass surface, I am sure we can convince the world to know about its benefits.”