Hockey India (HI) spends more in giving away prize money to winners than the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).
If one were to tell you that hockey players in India get more money from awards by their association than the famed cricketers, you would've probably not believed it. However, that is indeed the case. Hockey India (HI) spends more in giving away prize money to winners than the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), the world's richest cricketing body and by far the richest sports association in the country.
Here are some numbers that are bound to surprise you. In its second annual awards ceremony held in Bengaluru on Saturday, HI gave Rs 25 lakh to Indian goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who won the player of the year award. Compare that to Virat Kohli, who earned himself Rs 5 lakh for being crowned the International Cricketer of the Year at the BCCI awards in January.
What's more, while HI gives equal prize money to the female player of the year – forward Deepika received Rs 25 lakh on Saturday – the BCCI awards only Rs 50,000 to the best woman cricketer, which India captain Mithali Raj won this year.
There is also a huge gap when it comes to junior players. The HI showers the U-21 upcoming player of the year (both men and women) with Rs 10 lakh each, while the best junior cricketers (U-16, U-19, U-23 and woman) in the country get Rs 50,000 each from the BCCI.
As for the lifetime achievement award, late Indian goalkeeper Shankar Laxman won the Major Dhyan Chand Lifetime Achievement award with a cash prize of Rs 30 lakh, while former India wicketkeeper Syed Kirmani took home Rs 25 lakh for the CK Nayudu Award for lifetime achievement this year.
HI president Narinder Batra said the association came up with the figures that would do justice to its available monitory resources. "We don't compare ourselves with BCCI. We just checked up about what we can do comfortably within our resources. And that's how we came up with the figures. We don't want to compete with the BCCI," Batra said.
He added that they wanted to give its award winners high prize money in order to give them respect. "We wanted to give money that would be respectable to the players. If you want to do something, do it properly. Otherwise what is the use? We try our best to motivate the players by giving them high prize money," Batra said.
A BCCI official, meanwhile, said prize money is a subjective aspect that should be left for individual associations to decide. "The BCCI has its own thinking about this. There are other ways in which we look after our players. It is good that the hockey association is giving more prize money to its players, but it doesn't mean others should follow it," a BCCI official said on condition of anonymity.
MONEY MATTERS
Below is the amount the hockey and cricket associations spend in prize money of five common categories in its annual awards
Award BCCI HI (All figures in Rs lakh)
Players of the year (male) 5 25
Player of the year (female) 0.5 25
Junior player of the year (male) 0.5 10
Junior player of the year (female) 0.5 10
Lifetime achievement 25 30
N ZONE
Rs 1.30 cr
Amount Hockey India spends as prize money for winners in 11 categories in its annual awards every year
Rs 43 lakh
Amount BCCI spends as prize money for winners in 13 categories in its annual awards every year
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