Hockey: Indian traffic a worry for NZ players

Chaotic Indian traffic is providing the biggest security challenge so far as the New Zealand men's hockey team settles into Delhi for the terrorist-threatened 12-nation World Cup beginning next Monday.

Last week, al Qaeda issued a threat for competitors to avoid the hockey World Cup, the Indian Premier League cricket competition and the Commonwealth Games.

But New Zealand team manager Kevin Marr said the team had very few worries from a security perspective since arriving in Delhi yesterday.

"The hotel itself has tremendous security, so the players are very much at ease within the hotel environment," he said from Delhi today. "We've only been to the grounds once, and there was certainly very evident security there."

Marr said an area of "minor concern" for New Zealand, and possibly of greater worry for Australia and England, was transportation from the hotel to the ground and back.

"Indian traffic being what it is, it's proving quite difficult for them to create a little bit of an exclusion zone around the vehicles themselves. It doesn't matter how many sirens and guys you've got waving arms, they largely just ignore it and if there's a gap between you and another vehicle, they're quite happy to take it.

"We've had nothing that's caused us any concern, except if you went along the security protocols that we were led to believe would be tried to be put in place, that's probably proving to be the biggest hurdle for them."

Twelve nations are taking part in the World Cup, which is held every four years and is hockey's second most prestigious tournament after the Olympic Games.

The matches will be played at a new stadium to be used for the Commonwealth Games in October and which is about five minutes' drive from the hotel where all teams will be staying.

Earlier this week, New Zealand striker Simon Child withdrew from the team, citing the difficulty in performing well under heightened security in India for his decision

"It's not an ideal environment to be trying to play your best hockey and to be performing for your country," he said. "I think that was the major issue that swayed me when I made up my mind."

Although only 21, Child already has 119 caps to his name.

Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) chief executive Hilary Poole said on Monday that the organisation had gone through a rigorous process before confirming that the Black Sticks would attend the World Cup. It had received advice from the Government and from an independent security adviser in relation to security arrangements.

Poole said HNZ had liaised with other participating nations with regard to their own security assessment and travel plans. Apart from the independent security adviser, two other security personnel had been added to the tour party, which she said was over and above what other teams were doing.

The Black Sticks begin their campaign next Monday when they face Canada, and Marr said with no illness or injuries to date "we're 100 per cent go".

- NZPA