Former hockey players and coaches have expressed their surprise over India's decision to withdraw from the Pro League, as confirmed by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). In addition, confusion remains over the league's mechanism and decision to link it with Olympic qualification for the 2020 Tokyo Games.
"The world over, Pro League would give much better publicity and exposure to the players. The step of pulling out is a very regressive one," said former Indian goalkeeper Ashish Ballal.
"Hockey by nature needs investment of money, and without leagues there would be less money in the sport. Our players can play in foreign leagues from the exposure and publicity, and that is why they must play the Pro League and not pull out of it."
Former Pakistan captain Salman Akbar echoed a similar sentiment, saying that the experience of playing the Pro League should have superseded concerns over the qualification for the Olympics, especially for the women's team, which has been cited as one of the possible reasons for India's pull-out.
The Pro League seeks to open up Olympic qualification for the top four finishers in the nine-team tournament, played on a home-and-away basis between January and June annually starting in 2019, though it would still have left slots open for competing teams on the basis of continental qualification and world rankings.
The FIH told ESPN that the proposal would be forwarded to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for approval only once qualification principles for all sports have been officially announced by the IOC.
"World hockey is incomplete without India and Pakistan, and India needed to be the recognisable face of the Pro League. But by pulling out, it seems as if they have diminished the image of the league well before it has even had a chance to begin," Akbar told ESPN.
"The women's team qualified for the first time last year, and you would think that participation in Pro League should have been taken up as a challenge. This seems almost like an admission that you don't think your women's team is good enough."
Not all members of the hockey fraternity are convinced about the workability of the Pro League, though, with former Indian men's coach Vasudevan Baskaran questioning the wisdom of linking it with Olympic qualification.
"When there are 120-130 member countries [in world hockey], why should some select nations get a chance at using the Pro League to qualify for the Olympics?" he asked.
"Qualification should be the way it is in football for the World Cup -- each continent should have an opportunity to have their qualifiers their own way. If no other sport looks at qualification this way, why should hockey?"
Former coach of the Indian women's team MK Kaushik said he had opposed the concept of the Pro League when it was first proposed, and felt India should not have agreed to it in the first place.
"To expect the women to finish in the top four in the Pro League is a little unfair," he said. "It is up to the management to understand whether they lack the necessary preparation or whether there's been a dip in their performance, but when women don't have a league of their own, nor are they earning as much as the men, it is a difficult thing to raise their game."
Akbar - who lives and coaches in Leusden, Netherlands - believed the proposed Pro League window of January-June proposed by FIH may not be workable in any case, calling it "hugely disruptive" for players and leagues across India, Germany, Netherlands and England.
He also felt Pakistan, who have been given the choice of playing their 'home' matches in Scotland, might be inclined to follow India out of the Pro League fold, especially keeping their current financial situation in mind.
"The first competition is only in 2019, so they have time to get themselves in better shape. But this preparation is not just about the game itself; you also have to take into account travel, accommodation, training expenses, which frankly at present Pakistan would find very difficult to arrange successfully," he said.
Former India captain Viren Rasquinha also called India's withdrawal unexpected, saying, "When you make a decision to enter such a big tournament, you must do it with all relevant information."
However, he felt the Pro League and both its format and qualification criteria were too complicated at first glance. "Hockey is a very complicated sport in terms of rules and nuances, and the qualification process for big tournaments itself is something that can confuse spectators," he said. "We just need to simplify the whole process."