"Hockey umpiring is not very lucrative" - Former India umpire Kannan Krishnamurthy

It’s time to award a penalty corner as the defender has ‘carried’ inside his own ‘D’ or has called for a time-out as players protest a penalty stroke decision. It’s time to award a hit-in as the team’s centre-forward is obstructed by the rival defender. These are day-to-day scenarios hockey umpires engage in sometimes under the blazing sun or in extremely freezing conditions or even in pleasant weather conditions, but often remain the unsung heroes of the game.

All we remember is how the 22 players performed during 70 minutes of play or what is the final result. The only time a hockey umpire grabs the spotlight is when he or she endures a bad day in office; awarding a penalty corner when a team does not deserve it or not awarding a penalty stroke when a team fully deserved it often attract maximum eyeballs.

Former international hockey umpire and Karnataka forward Kannan Krishnamurthy has seen it all – he played as a forward for a decade for the state in the seventies before taking up hockey umpiring in local tournaments.

Krishnamurthy first started officiating in domestic tournaments in the late eighties before stepping into the umpiring shoes for all All-India tournaments – including the Senior Nationals. “In those days there was huge competition to get umpiring assignments at the national level. It was even more difficult to make it as an international hockey umpire as there used to a large pool of umpires competing,” Krishnamurthy takes a trip down memory lane in an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda.

The seasoned hockey umpire feels that it is much easier to make it big as a hockey umpire in present times. “Unlike the good old days, today youngsters can find it a lot easier to become a hockey umpire. More matches are being held, which means there is more umpiring assignments. All one needs is the passion to do the job,” he touched a realistic point.

Krishnamurthy burst on to the international scene for the first scene at the 1995 Indira Gandhi International Gold Cup hockey tournament held at New Delhi. “It was my international debut as a hockey umpire, so I have fond memories of that tournament,” he recalled.

He went to officiate in various international hockey tournaments. Krishnamurthy also umpired at the 1996 pre-Olympic tournament in Atlanta. He revealed how he derived utmost umpiring satisfaction from the Atlanta tourney. “I officiated in the Germany-Australia match; both are two of the world’s top teams and it was an exciting match as well. For a hockey umpire doing well in a big game (featuring the top teams) helps to enhance your reputation and it did the same for me.”

He also officiated at the 1995 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament – the year India won the crown for the third time.

The profile of a hockey tournament matters a lot to any umpire in their pursuit of climbing up the umpiring ladder. For Krishnamurthy, the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games was the pinnacle moment for him. And what a ‘high’ it was for Indian hockey as the national team won its Asiad gold after a hiatus of 32 years thanks to captain Ashish Ballal’s two superb saves in the tie-breaker against South Korea. “Obviously officiating in the Bangkok Asiad was a thrilling experience. The fact that India won its Asiad gold after the 1996 games made my stint even more sweeter. As far as my officiating was concerned, I stood in a number of lop-sided games,” he reminisced.

The 1999 double-leg four-nation tournament, held in Sydney and Melbourne, was his last international appearance as a hockey umpire before he actively entered sports administration and is currently the honorary secretary of the Karnataka State Hockey Association (KSHA).

Krishnamurthy, who worked in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) before taking VRS in 2002, feels that the advent of technology has made things comfortable for a hockey umpire. “In my heydays of umpiring, umpires at the national level did not understand what international umpiring was all about. Things have changed for the better with the assistance of technology. There are many books and information available on the internet, something we never could benefit from in my umpiring days,” he remarked.

Krishnamurthy, who has umpired in over 1,500 domestic matches and 25 international matches, believes hockey umpiring can never be a full-fledged career move. “I took up hockey umpiring only for the passion. You cannot make a living by only doing a hockey umpire job as its not very lucrative. For a marquee event like Olympics, umpires are paid $150 per match with which they have to manage food and accommodation, while for other low-profile tournaments, they are paid $75 per game,” he got down to the brass tacks.

He, however, harboured a ray of hope for the present crop of Indian hockey umpires. “India currently has 10-12 international umpires – among them I rate Satinder Sarma, RV Raghu Prasad and Javed from Mumbai the best. There are a lot of umpiring opportunities and its all about youngsters capitalizing them,” he wrapped up the conversation on a sanguine note.