FIH abandons proposed penalty corner rules trials

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Friday, August 11, decided to abandon the proposed penalty corner rules trials on the sidelines of the Asian Champions Trophy semi-final stage. The Global governing body for the sport had earlier issued a few likely changes for the penalty corner rule.

However, FIH president Tayyab Ikram made an official announcement over the decision to dump the proposed trials at the Mayor Radhakrishnan Stadium in Chennai. He stated:

“We as FIH has decided to put on hold or even abandoned - the penalty corner rule we tried. Particularly, the format we proposed before, we have abandoned that. From now it won’t be considered or trialed anyway."

The FIH President further said:

“But at the same time, we will have a revaluation or differ the options. We are in the big favour to keep the penalty corner in the same format.If it will be a different change it will be around the same format but with more dynamic ways. In any case we will not compromise on any measure which will lead dangerous play and challenge the safety of our athletes. That’s something we want to ensure.

According to the proposed changes for the regular penalty corner rules, the ball must travel at least 5m outside the circle (the 5m dotted lines) before a goal can be scored. Barring the initial injector of the attacking unit, all the attackers must start 5m outside the circle. Defenders are permitted to wear additional protective equipment as per the existing rules.

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Why FIH wanted to change the Penalty Corner rules?

The FIH wanted to ensure the safety of all the players as shots like drag-flicks often came at the speed of 150kmph, which are likely to force some serious injuries. The proposed rule would have slowed down the penalty corner process, with the defenders getting more time to tackle. The attempt of drag-flick would have been extremely difficult under such rules.

Below here are some points that were noted by the global governing body to bring drastic measures for the penalty corner rules:

• Maintain the current set up of a Penalty Corner but reduce the danger by removing the direct shot and therefore, no need for defenders to run towards an attacker shooting at goal.
• Change the emphasis to using the overload of players and options rather than a straight strike at goal. More similar to normal hockey play, with a significant advantage of more players available to the attacking team.
• Remove the need for additional protective equipment to be worn by field players, reducing the barrier to entry of having to purchase further equipment and improving the safety, and the safe appearance, of hockey.
• At the International level, the time permitted for the teams to set up once a PC is awarded can be reduced from 40 seconds (to 20 seconds) speeding up the game and reducing delays.