FIH president Tayyab Ikram, who’s in Chennai for the Males’s Asian Champions Trophy, made the respectable announcement all over half-time of the primary semifinal between Malaysia and South Korea.
“The FIH has decided to put on hold and even abandon the trial of (new) penalty-corner rules, particularly the format we had proposed. We have abandoned that,” stated the FIH boss.
“I have already instructed to have a re-evaluation on the further options, and we are in big favour to keep the penalty corner in the same format. If it will be a different change…it will be with more dynamic ways. But in any case we will not compromise on any measure that will lead to dangerous play and which will challenge the safety of our athletes,” added Ikram.
“There was no pressure at all (to stop this trial). It is a genuine evaluation,” he added. “The penalty corner not only enhances goal-scoring but also adds glamour to our sport.”
The FIH then stated in an respectable commentary: “Discontinuing this trial does not stop the process of reviewing and evaluating different options for possible changes to enhance the safety of our athletes and collecting the required data, but it has been concluded that at this stage, further consultation is sensible before doing relevant and meaningful testing of possible changes.”
The commentary additionally incorporated additional feedback of FIH president Ikram, which learn: “I think it is wise for us not to proceed with this trial, because we must protect the original characteristics of the penalty corner. Athlete safety must not be compromised, but the penalty corner is such an integral and iconic part of our game that we must be very considerate and careful when we explore changes to it.
“Due to this fact, I’ve initiated a re-examination and extra assessment to design an ordeal that can give protection to the latest mode of the penalty nook, age we additionally proceed to paintings on bettering athlete protection in our sport and particularly within the penalty-corner status.”
WHAT ARE THE CURRENT PENALTY CORNER RULES?
In the prevailing PC rules, the injector pushes the ball from the baseline to the top of the striking circle (commonly called the ‘D’), where a player dead-stops it just outside the circle, allowing the flicker to drag it inside the circle and unleash flicks that can touch speeds in the vicinity of 120 kmph and more.
With the danger of aerial flicks hitting and seriously injuring a defender, protective equipments like face masks, gloves, etc., are allowed to be worn by the defenders, who have to then remove these and throw them out of the playing area after the set piece has either resulted in a goal or has been foiled.
WHAT WERE THE NEW RULES OFFERED FOR TRIAL?
To improve the safety quotient, the FIH had offered to trial a tweaked form of the PC routine.
Titled ‘5m Out’ by the FIH, the proposed rule stated: “The ball will have to advance no less than 5 metres out of doors of the placing circle, past the 5-metre dotted circle, prior to a objective will also be scored. The choice of defenders extra the similar at 5. All attackers except for for the preliminary injector will have to get started 5 metres out of doors the circle (dotted series). Deny restriction on top of the photographs at objective as soon as the ball has travelled out of doors the 5-metre dotted series and returned throughout the circle.”
