FIH Cuts Match Time To 60 Minutes, Divides It Into 4 Quarters
- International Hockey Federation (FIH) made some major changes to make hockey exciting & more viewer-friendly. Changes made were:
- reduce the duration of matches in major tournaments to 60 minutes from its current duration of 70 minutes
- divide the game into 4 quarters of 15 minutes each (At present, hockey matches are played in two halves of 35 minutes each)
- new rule would come into effect from Sep 1 2014
- major FIH events such as the Champions Trophy, Hockey World League Final & Rio Olympics (2016) will be played in the new format
- provides for 40-second time-outs whenever a penalty corner is awarded or after a goal is scored
- This was based on a model tried & tested by Hockey India League & Euro Hockey League which would make the game more faster.
- IOC members voted to remove wrestling from Olympic core sport & hockey barely made it, in 2013. Wrestling, was later reinstated & made more viewer-friendly.
- This new format will surely suit Indian players, but will make coach’s job very challenging.
- This format is best for entertainment & it will surely generate more revenue as matches will be very fast-paced akin to basketball.
Exams Perspective:
- International Hockey Federation (FIH)
- New Rules in Hockey
- Olympics 2016