FIH Awards 2021: Belgium furious with FIH – As India India swept the International Hockey Federation’s (FIH) annual awards on Wednesday, men’s Olympic gold medallist and World Champion Belgium were left furious with FIH, calling it a “failure”. India claimed the top honours in all the categories based on a system of voting.
Five Indian players and the head coaches of both the men’s and women’s teams in Tokyo claimed the top honours across different categories after fetching the maximum votes. The men’s hockey team had won a bronze, its first in 41 years, in the Tokyo Olympics, while the women’s side had finished an unprecedented fourth in the showpiece.
FIH Awards 2021: Olympic champion Belgium furious as India sweeps all FIH awards, says ‘It’s failure of FIH’
Harmanpreet Singh won the men’s ‘Player of the Year’ award and Gurjit Kaur was recognized as the best player in the women’s section. Veteran P R Sreejesh and Savita Punia won the best goalkeeper awards in the men’s and women’s section, while young striker Sharmila Devi (women) and Vivek Sagar Prasad (men) were adjudged best rising stars.
FIH Awards 2021:
Men’s Player of the Year: Harmanpreet Kaur
Women’s Player of the Year: Gurjit Kaur
Best Goalkeeper (Men’s): PR Sreejesh
Best Goalkeeper (Women’s): Savita Punia
Rising Star (Men): Vivek Sagar Prasad
Rising Star (Women): Sharmila Devi
Super Star. Super Player. Super Award. 👏
Congratulations to Harmanpreet Singh for being adjudged the ‘FIH Player of the Year – Men’s’ in the #HockeyStarAwards 2021. 🙌#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/ggcro50Itk
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 6, 2021
FIH Awards 2021: Olympic champion Belgium furious as India sweeps all FIH awards, says ‘It’s failure of FIH’
The drag-click duo of Harmanpreet and Gurjit were the top-scorers in their respective team’s stellar run at the Games.
Men’s team coach Graham Reid and women’s coach Sjoerd Marijne were also voted the best. While Reid is still with the team, Marijne’s tenure ended after the Tokyo Games.
A Coach who helped the team reach a new high in the women’s circuit.👏
Congratulations to Sjoerd Marijne on winning the ‘FIH Coach of the Year – Women’s’ award in the #HockeyStarAwards 2021. 🙌#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/2YQOiCAvNg
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 6, 2021
FIH Awards 2021: Olympic champion Belgium furious as India sweeps all FIH awards, says ‘It’s failure of FIH’
One of the best masterminds of the game and now the best from the rest. 🙌
Congratulations to Graham Reid for winning the ‘FIH Coach of the Year – Men’s’ award in the #HockeyStarAwards 2021. 🙌#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/q5dHPD8RCM
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 6, 2021
FIH Awards 2021: Hockey Belgium reacted sharply to the announcement of the winners and questioned the process as none of their Tokyo Games champions managed to win an award.
“Hockey Belgium is very disappointed with the outcome of @FIH_Hockey Star Awards. A gold-winning team with multiple nominees in all categories but doesn’t win a single award demonstrates the failure of the voting system. We will work with FIH to ensure a fairer system in the future,” it tweeted.
She came. She saw. She conquered. 🙌
Congratulations to Gurjit Kaur on winning the prestigious title of ‘FIH Player of the Year – Women’s’ in the #HockeyStarAwards 2021. 👏#IndiaKaGame pic.twitter.com/AYczV5PW7d
— Hockey India (@TheHockeyIndia) October 6, 2021
FIH Awards 2021: The sentiment was shared by the team’s official handle as well.
“We fully agree! This is not normal! The credibility and image of our sport is once again facing hard times. It’s a pitty (sic) @FIH,” stated the Red Lions.
Votes from National Associations — represented by their respective national captains and coaches — accounted for 50 percent of the overall result, while fans and players (25 percent), as well as media (25 percent), made the other half of the votes.
In all, 79 National Associations voted (Africa: 11 out of 25 Member Associations; Asia: 29 out of 33; Europe: 19 out of 42; Oceania: 3 out of 8; Pan America: 17 out of 30), said a statement from FIH.
“And with a record number of almost 300,000 fans casting their votes, fan participation in the FIH Hockey Stars Awards has been exceptional,” it added.
FIH Awards 2021: The nominations from Belgium (men) and the Netherlands (women), who have not only crowned Olympic Champions but also won the 2020-21 FIH Hockey Pro League, finished behind the Indians once the votes were counted.
Belgium duo of Alexander Hendrickx and Arthur van Doren was voted second and third best players respectively among men, with Vincent Vanasch (Belgium) named second-best goalkeeper and Shane McLeod of New Zealand second-best coach.
FIH annual awards: India sweeps FIH awards; men’s Olympic champion Belgium says this is not normal
Among women, Eva de Goede and Frederique Matla of the Netherlands clinched the respective second and third places in the Player of the Year awards while Alyson Annan of Australia finished second for the FIH Coach of the Year Award.
Great Britain goalkeeper Maddie Hinch, rising star Fiona Crackles and coach Mark Hager of Australia all were third in their respective categories.
FIH Awards 2021: With the FIH Hockey Stars Awards skipped in 2020 due to the impact of the COVID-19 global health pandemic on the international calendar, this year’s awards covered the period from January 2020 through to the conclusion of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the FIH said.
“The voting process started on 23 August and concluded on 15 September 2021. Votes from National Associations – represented by their respective national captains and coaches – counted for 50 percent of the overall result, while fans and players (25 percent), as well as media (25 percent), made the other half of the votes,” it added.
FIH annual awards: India sweeps FIH awards; men’s Olympic champion Belgium says this is not normal
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Hockey India President Gyanendro Ningombam congratulated the winners.
“This is a great moment for Indian hockey as all our Indian nominees for the FIH Stars Awards have been announced winners.
“After the historic performances in Tokyo by both Indian Men and Women’s Hockey teams, the support from Indian fans from across the globe has been overwhelming,” he said.
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