MUMBAI: The organisers of World Series Hockey (WSH) and IHF have announced new date. This will now start on 29 February 2012. The final of the event will be held on 1 April a few days before the start of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL).

The decision happened after Hockey India announced a camp for the players ahead of the Olympic Qualifiers event. That camp was clashing with the original dates for WSH which was supposed to have kicked off on 17 December 2011.

The case went to the court. The Delhi High court had issued a stay on the PIL filed by a coach Joachim Caravalho who is involved with WSH. Carvalho?s lawyer had said that Hockey India?s camp, which is to be held to prepare the players for the Olympics for 71 days, was organised with the sole purpose of preventing them from participating in WSH. He had said that it was illegal on the part of Hockey India to threaten disqualification of those players participating in the tournament. Recently Hockey India had produced letters signed by players saying that they wanted to take part in the camp ahead of the Olympic qualifiers.

As far as the new dates for WSH are concerned IHF president RK Shetty said, "We are extremely saddened by the intimidation tactics employed by Hockey India to try and deprive Indian hockey players of an opportunity to earn a living from the sport of hockey. As everyone is well aware, the original schedule for WSH was made on the basis that the National prep camp for the Olympic qualifiers was to start on the 24th of January. This date was communicated by HI officials in writing to players as far back as March this year. Unfortunately, HI chose to reschedule the camp to the 11th of December with the obvious intention of disturbing the players and their preparations for WSH. This re scheduling was done after the announcement of WSH dates.

"The intimidation tactics being used by HI are shameful and it?s a pity that our players had to be put through this. With the express intent of protecting our national players from further harassment from HI, the IHF has requested WSH to take the high ground and adjust the dates for WSH. We are pleased to confirm that WSH has accepted the request and the Event will now commence in February after the completion of India?s Olympic qualifiers on 26 February."

Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco said, "The primary objective of WSH is the reinvigoration of the sport of Hockey in India. The players are a very important stakeholder of Indian Hockey and post the request from IHF (on behalf of the players) we have had detailed consultation with our sponsors, franchises, team officials, match officials and other administers of the sport of hockey. We are pleased to confirm the unanimous support of all our stakeholders to the adjustment of WSH dates and we look forward to the launch of this historic event on the 29th of February 2012."

Delhi Wizards owner Sabbas Joseph said, "I strongly believe that WSH would change the face of hockey as we know it, and they have proved it once again through this decision to reschedule the tournament. This will ensure the players are not faced with an ?either or? scenario and as a franchise owner, I share the vision of WSH and IHF and would like to extend complete support towards making WSH a world class event."

Karnataka Lions owner Sagar Pol Chowdhury said, "Our stance has always been that the youth of India will definitely see a new connect with hockey through WSH and this decision is a shining example of that. A league that treats its players with care is bound to succeed. I fully back this difficult decision made by WSH and look forward to providing the right training platform for the Karnataka Lions to perform to potential in February".

MUMBAI: In what could be a setback to Nimbus? World Series Hockey (WSH) initiative, six top Indian players have withdrawn from the league which starts on 17 December.

A letter issued by Hockey India bears the signature of all the six players. They are goalkeepers Bharat Chetri and PR Sreejesh, drag flicker Sandeep Singh, defender Sardar Singh, and forwards Tushar Khandker and Yuvraj Walmiki.

WSH takes place at the same time as the national camp for the Olympic qualifiers.

The letter reads, "We are not playing in the World Series Hockey event and we will be attending the national camp in Delhi for the Olympic qualifiers on 11 December, 2011 until February 2012. We will be available for selection in the national team for the Olympic qualifiers.

"We signed the contract with World Series Hockey under the impression that WSH will not force us to play and ask us to leave for the national camp. We play for our country and that is a matter of honour and pride for us."

The players have requested the WSH organisers to postpone the event.

"We appeal to World Series Hockey to postpone their tournament after the qualifiers in the national interest".

However, Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco has said that the players have not sent any communication to the agency regarding this decision. "We find it extremely odd that players would have chosen to ?write? to a third party to withdraw from World Series Hockey, especially since this third party has nothing to do with this historic event. We thus are unable to judge whether this supposed letter is a fabrication or an extortion.

"What we do know for a fact is that not a single WSH player has communicated in person or email to us regarding their non availability for the inaugural edition of World Series Hockey. In fact, we have had repeated confirmation from all our players that they are extremely excited to be a part of this event which will finally give the sport of hockey its proper due. In addition, WSH players have been in constant touch with their franchise coaches even during the draft process (28 November)."

"We look forward to working closely with the all the stakeholders of Indian hockey, including the players, franchisees, coaches and fans, to staging a hugely successful inaugural edition of World Series Hockey," Colaco said.

MUMBAI: Nimbus? hockey league initiative World Series Hockey has announced the highest ever prize money for any hockey event in the world. The company adds that the champion team in WSH stands to win almost 30 times more prize money, as compared to the Euro Hockey League, the leading domestic Hockey league in Europe

The total prize money, in excess of Rs 100 million is structured in a manner to incentivise teams and players.

As per the plan, champions will get Rs 40 million while runners up will be given Rs 20 million. The team on third and fourth place will get Rs 10 million each.

All WSH franchises have committed to sharing a minimum of 50 per cent of their team winnings with the players, creating a player winning purse of at least Rs 40 million and significantly enhancing the potential of earnings for all the players of the teams who finish in the top four spots of the inaugural season of WSH.

In addition to the prize money listed above, there are several individual awards recognising match winners and stars including:

WSH Rockstar (Most Valuable Player): Rs 10 million
Indian Super Star (Star Indian Player): Rs 5 million
Golden Stick (Highest Goal Scorer): Rs 2.5 million
Game Changer (Best Midfielder, Defender or Goal Keeper): Rs 2.5 million
Rookie of the Year (Best emerging player under 21): Rs 1 million

If an Indian player is adjudged ?WSH Rockstar?, the award for the "Indian Superstar" will go the next best Indian player. This ensures a player prize purse of a minimum Rs 60 million made available to the players of WSH, over and above their contract fees.

Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco said, "This is a definite game changer for hockey players in India and across the world. WSH has ensured that the time for hockey players to take centre stage is finally here! By offering the highest prize money and creating an environment where players compete with the best in the world, youngsters can finally look at playing Hockey as a viable profession."

The WSH will be held from 17 December, 2011 to 22 January, 2012 and will involve 200 players -- Indian and international -- who will showcase their talent in 61 matches.

It will be a multi-city franchise-based League with players being allocated to the teams based on the internationally accepted and practised ?draft? system.

The inaugural edition of the league will comprise eight teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.

MUMBAI: A few months after announcing its World Series Hockey (WSH) initiative, Nimbus has concluded the franchise allocation process and announced Chennai Sports Organisers (CSO) as the franchisee owner for Chennai.

A multi-city franchise-based league, WSH will make all the franchisee announcements over the next few days. The inaugural edition of the league will comprise seven more teams out of Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Pune, Bhopal, Punjab, Ranchi and Rourkela.

The Chennai Sports Organisers director LT Nanwani is also the director and promoter of Jubilee Granites, a mining company in South India that exclusively owns products like ?Black? and ?Black Galaxy? granite. The company?s initial investment in WSH is worth Rs 200 million over 15 years.

Nanwani said, "It is a matter of great pride to own a franchise in the prestigious World Series Hockey. Chennai has always had a strong sports culture and we are committed to strengthen the talent pool of hockey players. Extensive research has revealed that speed is a key attribute of the sport and hence our team is going to be aptly called Chennai Cheetahs."

"India has a strong hockey legacy and we will strive towards bringing the glory back. This is the first step for CSO and in the near future, we will expand our sports business by investing in multiple sports to create greater local connect with the fans. The main concern is to revive hockey our national sport. We have been speaking to Nimbus for a year about this."

He adds that CSO is talking to companies for sponsorship.

Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco added, "WSH has been very selective in identifying franchise owners who are passionate about hockey and share the common vision of creating a strong and viable ecosystem for the sport in India. We are delighted to welcome Nanwani to the WSH family. His deep rooted understanding of the local Chennai market coupled with his keen interest in hockey will definitely create a strong fan base in the catchment area."

The WSH will be held from 17 December to 22 January, 2012 and will involve 200 Indian and international players, showcasing their talent in 61 matches.

MUMBAI: Nimbus will invest Rs 2.5 billion on World Series Hockey that kicks off on 15 December 2012.

The spending will happen in four areas - signing up of players, event operations, infrastructure and marketing and promotional activities.

."By the time the event starts, we would have spent Rs 2.5 billion which we will recuperate through different avenues like franchise fees, television rights fee and sponsorship," Nimbus executive chairman Harish Thawani said.

The event is an initiative between Nimbus Sport and the Indian Hockey Federation.

Nimbus expects the event to generate over Rs 2 billion in its first year through revenue streams such as ticketing, sponsorship and branding, Thawani said.

Nimbus Sport will float a tender on 1 August 2011 for the television rights. It expects to make between Rs 900 million-Rs 1.2 billion from the sale of television rights for five years, said Thawani.

In India, Nimbus will only sell the television rights and hold back rights for new media. "We decided to issue a tender as interest has been expressed by other broadcasters. We might have two channels airing the event and evenly split the number of matches they air," said Thawani.

The event will have eight teams. Six venues have been decided - Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, Punjab and Bangalore. Two other venues will be frozen from a list consisting of Kolkata, Pune, Bhopal, Ranchi, Manipur, Lucknow and Rourkela.

There will be 61 matches which is similar to what the Indian Premier League (IPL) had when it was an eight team format in the third edition. Not surprisingly, all the venues chosen also have an IPL franchise.

Thawani said that out of the eight franchise owners, four are by invitation. "We have already done a deal with two entities. At this moment, I cannot reveal their identities. Two more will sign up shortly. We will conduct an auction to decide the other four franchises in September."

A franchise will spend Rs 70 million in the first year and a total of Rs. 2.15 billion over 15 years.

For the four franchises that have to bid, Rs. 2.15 billion will be the base price, according to Nimbus Sport COO Yannick Colaco.

176 players have been contracted by World Series Hockey. World hockey‘s governing body, the FIH, gave a written undertaking that they will not interfere with contracts of players signed before 31 March 2011.

"All our contracts were done much before that. There are 40 international stars including Brent Livermore from Australia, Rehan Butt from Pakistan and Spain‘s Rodrigo Garcia. Leandro Negre (FIH president) is not irresponsible. He understood that what we are doing is for the good of the game. Our vision is to enhance the sporting culture beyond cricket. The mission for the first year is to have a flawless event of international standards. We want spectators to have an entertainment experience of international standards," said Thawani.

In October there will be a draft to decide which players play for which franchise. Thawani opines that this is more efficient than the auction process as it doesn‘t distort salaries. "Under an auction. money can get squandered. There will not be more than five international players for a team. The captains for the teams have already been decided in consultation with the state associations and franchises."

Asked about how successful the initiative would be in terms of building franchise loyalties, Colaco said that marketing activities are already underway though there is still time for the event to start. "This will help build affinities both for the event and for the franchise in each city. A site has been launched. The event also has a presence on Facebook. A 360 degree multimedia campaign will be done," he elaborated.

Thawani noted that an earlier hockey league (done by ESPN Star Sports) was hindered by the fact that only two venues were used. The concept of home and away games was not there and so there was no local following.

"World Series Hockey will be a cooperative effort. The franchises will bring in investments. Without this help, it is difficult to sign up 176 players. Our aim is to have our players compete against the best in the world. We want to create an eco-system so that hockey becomes a viable career for youngsters in the way that cricket and football are. Nimbus Sports‘ role is that of a marketing agency in terms of bringing in sponsorship, franchises and create branding. This event will be seen in over 30 countries globally," Thawani said.