FIH abandons new penalty corner rule trial

Chennai: The trial for the new penalty corner rule in hockey has been abandoned after a short-lived proposal, which had been thought to be the beginning of the end of the art of drag-flicking.

FIH President Tayyab Ikram, speaking here ahead of the Asian Champions Trophy semifinals, said the hockey world body would like to 'announce to the world through Chennai' that the new rule would require attackers to start 5m outside the circle during PCs has been dropped.

“We have decided to abandon the ongoing penalty corner trials and the proposed format for the penalty corners. FIH will like to re-evaluate more options for the penalty corner," he said.

“We are in favour of keeping the penalty corner rule in the same format. If there is any change, it will be around the same format and in more dynamic ways," he added.

Following a release sent by FIH to respective national hockey federations on the new rule, there were concerns about the impact of the new proposal on drag flicking, one of the most exciting aspects of attacking play in the sport.

The FIH said that while the rule change is being dropped, the safety of defenders remains an issue that the world body is working on.

“It is a genuine evaluation without pressure and we want to keep penalty corners as compact as possible. It enhances the goal scoring and brings glamour to the sport of hockey," Ikram said.

“But we have to continue working in order to enhance the safety of our players. We won't compromise on the safety of our athletes. We will make sure that our athletes are safe as it is very important for us. We are going to collect data such where are most players injured as it will help us improve the safety for players. It was something we tried but it didn't work," he added.