HIL signs de Nooijer as third brand ambassador

New Delhi - Hockey India League (HIL) announced here Saturday that three times FIH World Player of the Year Teun de Nooijer will be its third brand ambassador for the tournament due to start in January 2013.

HIL chairman Narinder Batra said it is an immense honour for having de Nooijer as the brand ambassador who has contributed more than 18 years to international hockey, in a release.

“We already have two world class players Jamie Dwyer and Sardar Singh on board as our brand ambassadors, so its good to have the world’s most capped player as our third one.”

De Nooijer, 36, is the highest capped player in the world who has represented the Netherlands in 453 international matches. The midfielder, who made his debut in 1994 against New Zealand, has always been a key member of the Dutch team that participated in four Olympic Games in Atlanta 1996 (Gold), Sydney 2000 (Gold), Athens 2004 (Silver) and London 2012 (Silver) with three World Cups including Utrecht 1998 (Gold), Kuala Lumpur 2006 (Bronze) and New Delhi (Bronze).

Having earned the FIH World Player of the Year award in 2003, 2005 and 2006, de Nooijer participated in as many as nine Champions Trophy tournaments since 2000.

“It is an overwhelming privilege to join Jamie and Sardar as brand ambassadors for the HIL. With such great players and some of the biggest Indian corporates involved, I have no doubt in my mind that HIL will be a roaring success,” de Nooijer said.