Dato’ G. Vijayanathan - “Achieve excellence in whatever we do.”

Category: Official
Sport: Hockey
Year Inducted: 2004


From an early age, Vijayanathan played cricket, hockey, football and badminton for his school Victoria Institution, Kuala Lumpur. It was no surprise then that Vijayanathan later became an active member and held various positions in the Selangor Hockey Association (SHA) and Football Association of Selangor (FAS). He was the Honorary General Secretary of both those associations and later became the Vice President of the SHA from 1976 to 1979.

Vijayanathan became more and more immersed in the development of hockey for the country and most notably served as the General Secretary of the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) for 26 years. During his tenure, he was appointed the Assistant Manager to the national hockey team in its various international appearances, including several SEA Games, Asian Games and the 1968 Mexico Olympics. He was also the Founder member of the Asian Hockey Federation in 1962 and later the Executive Secretary of the federation for four years.

Vijayanathan was appointed as International Hockey Umpire by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) in 1969, and was later upgraded to World Cup/Olympic Umpire in 1972. During the 1973 Hockey World Cup in Amsterdam, he and his fellow umpire received a standing from the spectators as they walked onto the field during the final match between Netherlands and India. Few umpires have experienced such acknowledgement of their work in their lifetime.

For his continuous contribution to international hockey, Vijayanathan has received awards from several governments such as Malaysia, Pakistan and India. Until this day, Dato’ G. Vijayanathan continues to dedicate his time and efforts to the development of the sport on a national and international level.

“Achieve excellence in whatever we do.”



MHF

- General Secretary (1959-1985)
- Assistant Manager to Malaysian hockey team on various tournaments (1962-1980)
- Chairman of Umpire Board (1969-1984)

AHF

- Founder Member (1962)
- Executive Secretary (1974-78)

FIH

- Umpires Board (1983-85); formed an Umpiring Committee
- Umpired at various international tournaments between 1968-1982
- Technical Committee (later called Competitions Committee) from 1983-2001
- Technical Delegate/Tournament Director/Judge for int’l tournaments (1980-2004)