FIH mulling change in penalty-corner guidelines for gamers’ security | Hockey Information – Occasions of India

ROURKELA: Penalty corners are probably the most interesting elements of watching a recreation of hockey. However penalty nook (PC) photographs referred to as drag-flicks, typically unleashed at speeds in extra of 150kmph, also can result in critical accidents for the defenders who rush head on in direction of the participant taking the drag-flick or keep within the line of the shot. The Worldwide Hockey Federation (FIH) is taking a look at methods so as to add a layer or two of security to these set items.
The brand new FIH president, Tayyab Ikram, met the media in Rourkela on Sunday on the sidelines of the continued Males’s Hockey World Cup on the Birsa Munda Hockey Stadium and shared his views on the problem.
Ikram mentioned that evaluate of gamers’ security throughout PCs is an ongoing course of and that the FIH can be “going to start some experiments”.
“It is at this moment under study,” mentioned the FIH chief. “The first thing, which is the priority for us, is the athletes’ safety. “We’re engaged on that. We’re additionally going to start out some experiments for that.”
The first of such experiments was trialled during the 2021 Junior Men’s World Cup, when the players were allowed to keep their penalty-corner defence equipment on, as long as the ball was in play and inside the 23-metre line.
“Rule 4.2 has been modified to permit for defending gamers utilizing Penalty Nook protecting gear to proceed to play the ball outdoors the circle after an interception throughout the taking of a penalty nook. Gamers can now proceed to run with the ball whereas conserving their protecting gear on however they need to take away that very same gear instantly after, on the first alternative to take action, and all the time contained in the 23m space,” FIH Sport Director Jon Wyatt had said in January last year.
“This has been launched to guard athlete security in order that the main focus might be on the ball and the play, and never on eradicating protecting gear throughout a pressurised defensive scenario,” Wyatt added.
In May last year, the FIH also launched a consultation drive called the ‘Future of Penalty Corner’ inviting the sport’s various stakeholders to participate and give their views on how players’ safety can be enhanced during PCs.
“The primary factor is the high-intensity and velocity of the ball, primarily the talent developed on drag-flick and the velocity it produces,” Ikram told the media in Rourkela. “We’re not going to scale back the velocity however strive teaching (strategies) to supply a bit bit extra time for the defenders to react.”
Moreover the drag-flick, FIH’s security issues are additionally about photographs taken amid a crowd of gamers throughout a penalty-corner routine. However whereas experiments could happen within the close to future, presumably throughout the Professional League matches, the principles round penalty corners will not be modified till after the Paris 2024 Olympics.