“Whatever we do, either nothing or radical,” says Jon Wyatt, “we will upset half of the hockey players which isn’t ideal.” Having received around 4,700 responses over four months, world hockey’s sport and development director is talking about the penalty corner rule and its future following the FIH’s decision to open up a consultation period last year with a view to tinkering with the setpiece and balancing both entertainment and safety.
“People really care about it,” Wyatt tells The Hockey Paper. “Fifty per cent of responses said leave it alone and stop meddling with the rules and the other 50 said it’s dangerous, ‘I’m in A&E every other week’, ‘I’m a No 1 runner’ or ‘I see this in my team’.”
For a sport which has changed or added rules for the better – think self pass and video referrals – the penalty corner could be the biggest yet if there are wholesale changes to make the sport safer.
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SAM WARD: Why we shouldn’t get rid of the penalty corner
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