Chennai: No stone is left unturned for staging the benefit match involving the cream of contemporary hockey stars at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium on December 8. The International Hockey Federation attaches a lot of importance and significance to this tie, which is designed to illustrate to the world the concern and solidarity of the hockey family's response to the pain and suffering of people affected by the series of devastating earthquake in Pakistan and India in October.

While there was a debate whether the match should be held before or after the Champions Trophy, which concludes on December 18, the FIH took a firm decision to request the Indian Hockey Confederation to stage the match as a sort of a dress rehearsal for the prestigious event set to begin on December 10.

The FIH President, Els van Breda Vriessman, has appealed to the spectators in Chennai and elsewhere to turn up in large numbers and support a noble cause of helping out two of the very important member countries in the FIH.

Initially, there was apprehension whether the coaches would be happy to release their best stars for an exhibition match before the important event like the Champions Trophy risking injury. But according to information now available here that all the countries have agreed to spare their players.

New format

The FIH has instructed the Tournament Director, Ken Read of Australia, to supervise and conduct the match. This will be played in a new format consisting of four parts of 20 minutes each, in the same system as the Premier Hockey League.

Players from India, Pakistan and Spain will constitute one team, while Australia, Germany and the Netherlands make up for the other.

The benefit tie has the blessings of the President of International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, and the FIH has also appealed for endorsement from the United Nations.

How the IHC will go about the work of providing the finishing touches to the important tie amidst the hectic activity that is preceding the start of main event, the Champions Trophy, remains unclear. One suggestion is to approach the corporate houses for donations, apart from the ticket collections, so that the match yields a fairly substantial sum to be given to the FIH, which in turn will pass on this to the relief agencies concerned.

Second effort

Actually, this is the second effort from the hockey community to raise money to help earthquake victims in South Asia. Immediately after the catastrophe the Pakistani stalwart, Sohail Abbas, took the initiative to organise an exhibition match involving the Dutch national team and players from India and Pakistan, who were figuring in the Dutch league. The tie was a tremendous success.

Meanwhile, work at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium is nearing completion notwithstanding the delay caused by the unprecedented rain for well over a month. The officials concerned are confident that everything will be in place in a few days time. However, the approach roads to the venue from all sides are in a pathetic state after the rain and they need urgent attention from the corporation authorities. With only 10 days remaining for the mega event, there are several loose ends that require to be tied at the earliest.

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