Hero Honda takes Rs 8 crore cover for hockey world cup

Title sponsor Hero Honda is leaving no room for losses from the Hockey World Cup.

The 14-day event, to be held in New Delhi from February 28 to March 13, has been covered for adverse weather and terrorist acts leading to cancellation of the matches.

Hero Honda has also taken insurance against the cancellation of the event from Oriental Insurance. The cup has been insured for Rs 7.99 crore. The event is called Hero Honda International Hockey Federation (FIH) World Cup. The world’s top 12 teams, including India, Pakistan, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, Spain and England, will play a total of 38 matches. The policy also covers postponement or abandonment due to religious mourning, breakout of communicable diseases and natural calamities such as floods.

A company executive said there were certain exclusions. For instance, losses due to any team not turning up because of its risk perception had not been covered, he said.

This is the first time in India that a hockey match has been insured against cancellation. Insurers have so far shown keen interest in providing cover to cricket matches and have also paid claims in case of cancellations.

“The publicity given to the event, particularly in the current scenario, has forced the sponsor to take cover. In my knowledge, this is the first time a hockey match has been insured,” said a senior executive of Oriental Insurance. “As a routine, we insure all sporting events that we sponsor. The Hero Honda FIH hockey World Cup has also been insured as part of this routine process,” said a Hero Honda spokesperson.

India had last hosted the Hockey World Cup in 1982.

The insurance executive said that Ten Sports, the broadcaster, was also looking to take an insurance cover with the event gaining popularity and getting good response from advertisers.

The state-owned insurer has provided cover to almost all cricket matches. It recently paid a claim when the cricket match between India and Australia in Mumbai was cancelled due to rainfall. Earlier, it had covered the broadcaster of the ICC T20 World Cup, ESPN India, for losses due to match cancellations. The television channel was provided insurance to the tune of Rs 148 crore. Hero Honda has brought in Virender Sehwag, Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore and Priyanka Chopra, among others, to promote the event.