KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC) president Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal has called the International Hockey Federation (FIH)’s Olympics qualification system “ridiculous,” asserting that it hinders Malaysia’s chances of reaching the world’s biggest multi-sport event.
The Olympic qualification system set by the FIH involves teams being selected from six qualification tournaments: the Oceania Cup, EuroHockey Championship, Asian Games, Pan American Games, African Olympic Qualifiers, and FIH Hockey Olympic Qualifiers.
This year’s Paris Olympics will see a total of 12 teams – France, Australia, Netherlands, India, Argentina, South Africa, Belgium, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Great Britain, and New Zealand – with seven of them being European teams.
India remains the only Asian team to qualify for the Olympics next month after defeating Japan 5-1 in the final last year.
In an exclusive interview with Scoop, Subahan said that the system set by the FIH only favours stronger teams and will make it hard for Asian teams, including Malaysia, to qualify – as the higher ranking teams have an added advantage of playing at their home ground.
“The FIH system is such that it’s favouring the higher ranking teams, which is ridiculous that we have to play both matches at their venue.
“By right, it should be home and away, but if the team is much stronger, we need to play at their venue.
“As a president, I have an unfinished job as we have not yet qualified for the Olympics. This is going to be my third time trying and it’s not going to be easy.
“To qualify on merit by defeating India in the Asian Games is not going to be easy, but head coach Sarjit Singh believes that the only way for the team to qualify is by winning a gold medal in the Asian Games.
“The system is wrong, and I have made it clear.
“The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) should be voicing this out on behalf of the Asian countries. Now, you only have one Asian team in the Olympics.
“Are you telling me that all other teams are not good enough?
“We played qualification matches against Belgium, Germany, Spain, and England. How are we supposed to qualify against these top teams in the world? I think they should go back to the quota system like how it was back in the day,” said Subahan.
At the same time, Subahan also said that FIH and AHF should discuss increasing the number of teams in the Olympics, citing that the multi-sport event is about uniting all the countries in the world.
“The Olympics is about unity. In football, it’s like that, and now we have 48 teams in the FIFA World Cup. What they are trying to do is not about winning the competition – it’s about getting the whole world involved.
“AHF must look into ways to work with FIH on changing the qualification system.
“The last time Japan played in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was because they were the host, and we should have been there as the second-best team after winning silver in the 2018 Asian Games. These are things that AHF should be advocating for.
“As long as whoever becomes the president, if the FIH and AHF don’t change the system, it’s going to be hard for Malaysia to qualify for the Olympics in the years to come,” Subahan added.
The Speedy Tigers failed in their mission to end their 24-year absence from the Olympic hockey competition after finishing bottom in Pool A in Oman with only one point from three matches.
Under the guidance of former head coach Arul Selvaraj, Malaysia lost two consecutive matches against China (3-2) and Great Britain (4-1) and drew their final match against Pakistan (3-3) in January this year.
The last time Malaysia played in the Olympics was in the 2000 edition in Sydney. – June 15, 2024