Free admission for Champions Trophy

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian hockey fans are in for a treat. There will be no admission fee to matches in the Samsung Champions Trophy tournament, which will be played at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil from Nov 29-Dec 9.

The Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) president, Tan Sri Anwar Mohd Nor, made this announcement at the launch of the tournament website and sponsorship cheque presentation at the Palace of the Golden Horses here yesterday.

“We want to encourage fans to watch high-level hockey played by the eight top teams in the world,” said Anwar.

He added that it would defeat the purpose if such fare were to be played in an empty stadium and they would get students of several schools and employees of government agencies in the Klang Valley to attend the matches.

“We will also provide transport for some of the schoolchildren and we hope that we can at least get half the stadium filled. We have found it difficult in the past to fill the stadium unless it is the semi-finals or final,” said Anwar.

He added that fans outside the Klang Valley could also follow the matches live on the website (www.championstrophy2007.com) and television.

The tournament features eight teams – defending champions Holland, world champions Germany, Olympic champions Australia, Spain, South Korea, Britain, Pakistan and Malaysia.

The tournament will be played in a round-robin format with the top two finishers qualifying for the final.

Britain will play against Holland in the opening match.

The other matches on the opening day are: Germany vs Pakistan, South Korea vs Spain and Malaysia vs Australia. Malaysia are the lowest ranked team at number 15 in the world.

On the hosting of the tournament on a short three-month notice, Anwar said that it would not have been possible if not for their sponsors.

“A tourney of this magnitude would not be possible unless we have strong partners,” he said of the RM1 million budget needed to host it.