Fourteen top foreign stars, who played in the HIL last season, will unlikely make an appearance this time around due to a busy 2026 calendar that includes the all-important World Cup and the fact that the league is being played in the off-season.

The 2026 World Cup will be held in the Netherlands and Belgium from August 14 to 30 for which teams start preparing months in advance. With most of the season spent in the FIH Pro League, coaches and team management of top European outfits will get less time to get their players ready.

The other reason is the fact that HIL camps start before Christmas while the tournament is held during the New Year – normally a holiday season for players from top hockey nations like Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Great Britain.

“Around 14 foreign players who came last time are unlikely to come this time around. It is a small number. This is due to World Cup engagements. But nothing is finalised yet. In a World Cup year, if some players don’t come because of national duties, we have enough equally talented players available. So it should not be taken as a setback,” a top HI official told HT on condition of anonymity.

“Franchises are also trying to get the players and talks are ongoing. Eventually if they don’t come, many others from Europe, Oceania, Asia and Pan America are also available. They have all registered, details of which will be made public soon. Many senior internationals who are in the core probables of top European teams are willing to come.”

A total of 96 foreign players — 64 men and 32 women — played the HIL last year. From these, 56 male players have been retained out of which 14 are unlikely to come. The rest have gone back into the auction pool.

Last year too, around 20 men’s foreign players, who were sold in the auction, did not turn up. They were duly replaced by others from the same nations and with enough international pedigree.

Before the auction took place last year, it was declared that should a player not turn up after registering and being sold, he or she will be banned from playing the league for a period of three years.

Asked if the ban will be brought into effect, the official said: “That’s the agreement between the franchisee and the players. If the franchisee asks us to invoke that ban, we will do so. But ultimately it is between the franchisee and the player.”

Squads reduced to 20 players

The other biggest difference the league will see is the reduction of the squad from 24 to 20 players. This will be a big boost for the selected ones as the purse – ₹4 crore for men and ₹2 crore for women – proved less for the franchise owners while trying to up the scale during the bidding wars.

As a result, many Indian players went unsold in the morning session of the last auction. Only when they requested HI to reduce their base price from ₹10 LAKH To ₹2 lakh did they get sold. “The purse now will get distributed equally. Players are going to benefit,” said the official.

The reduction also means that each team will need to have seven and not eight foreign players in the squad.

Registrations have stopped for the HIL, which this time will be held in Chennai, Bhubaneswar and Ranchi. The last edition was held in Rourkela and Ranchi.