Imposing sanction fees on the hosts of the Sultan Johor Cup and Sultan Azlan Shah Cup's was most likely done without taking into consideration several factors that could lead those imposing the fees to actually fork out more from their pockets.
It is no secret that the hosts always provide the best facilities to the Malaysian teams, with at times even hosting them a week before the tournament.
The Malaysian team is always accorded the best privileges, right from choice of training times, food and accommodation beyond that stipulated for participating teams as well as holding various meetings and seminars that benefit the sports in the country.
Let's just list down an example of what extra costs the national team will have to fork out should they decide to head for the respective venues a week prior to the tournament. This is based on the fact that hospitality by the hosts is limited to 2 days prior and 1 day after the tournament and usually is for 22 persons per team.
Training sessions - USD 120 per session X 14 - USD 1,440
Transport - USD 100 per trip X 14 trips - USD1,400
Hotel and Food - USD 65 per head X 30 pac X 7 days - USD13, 650
Extra Rooms During Tournament - USD65 per head X 6 persons X 10 days - USD 3,900
Total - USD 20,390
One must remember that the foreign teams fork out all extra costs when arriving early and the hosts could well be within their rights to withdraw any extra privileges with the imposition of the sanction fee.
Imagine if the said amount is to be paid out whereas the sanction fee is only USD5,000 and USD 10,000 respectively.
One must also question why sanction fees must be imposed in the first place. Are there several factors that are not being made public for imposing the sanction fees when the International Hockey Federation, the legitimate sanctioning body does not seem it fit to do so?
Thus it will be better for the parent body to engage in discussions rather then impose fees that in the end could be seen as penny wise pound foolish.
