Hockey India League can become a global brand, says Arun Jaitley
Jaitley further said that the inaugural season of HIL was free from any controversy and played with good integrity, which was a result of the strong administration.
Hockey India League advisory board member Arun Jaitley says the franchise-based event, which was launched only this year, has "the potential to become a global brand".
Jaitley complimented all the participating teams and franchises of HIL for successfully and prefessionally organising the inaugural season of the league.
"Hero HIL has the potential of becoming an international global brand and is on the road to achieve it," Jaitley said on Monday at the fifth franchise workshop of HIL at a city hotel in New Delhi.
"With the introduction of Hero HIL, we see that fans and audience are watching and engaged in the sport. In the last 2-3 years, hockey is on the road to recovery," added the senior BJP leader.
Jaitley further said that the inaugural season of HIL was free from any controversy and played with good integrity, which was a result of the strong administration.
In the workshop, which was attended by representatives from each of the franchises, HIL orgainsers made presentations and detailed analysis on the results of the inaugural season of the league, a Hockey India statement said.
Plans were also discussed on how to make the league more successful in the second season starting from January 23 next year.
Apart from Jaitley, the workshop was also attended by another HIL advisory board member, Rajat Sharma (Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, India TV).
Sharma congratulated HIL and all its stakeholders for the successful conduct of the inaugural season.
"I was surprised after watching the first match of the Hero HIL, the crowd in the stadium was beyond my expectations and I think this league can play an important role in bringing back glory for the country," he said.
Hockey India secretary general and HIL chairman Narinder Batra said, "We are making our best efforts to present a more spectacular league in 2014. Through the workshop we obtain invaluable feedback from our franchise partners that we are taking on board for the sustainability and success of the league."
Other well-known personalties who attended the workshop as special guests were Olympic gold medallist shooter Abhinav Bindra, former woman tennis player and CEO of Mittal Champions Trust Manisha Malhotra and former India hockey player and CEO of Olympic Gold Quest Viren Rasquina.