New Delhi: Indian Hockey today plunged into
a fresh controversy today with some senior players raising a
banner of revolt against its foreign coach Jose Brasa for his
autocratic style of functioning even as the establishment
downplayed the internal turmoil.
Some senior players, including former captain Sandeep
Singh, have expressed serious resentment against Spanish coach
Brasa, who has been accused of bias and being dictatorial in
his attitude.
The development, which had been gaining ground since the
last few days, has prompted HI President A K Mattoo to fly to
Pune tomorrow to sort out the issues.
The players are undergoing a training camp in Pune's
Balewadi Complex for the Champions Challenge tournament to be
held at Salta, Argentina, from Dec 6-13.
Asked specifically if there was a revolt against the
coach, Mattoo told, "There was no such thing as a revolt.
I have heard murmurs of some resentment by some players and I
am flying to Pune tomorrow to assess the situation. There is
nothing to be alarmed."
"I will go there and try to understand the situation and
make my own assessment. Some differences are bound to crop up
when you have a tough coach. I will hear both the sides and
look into the matter," he said.
Mattoo said such incidents should not be blown out of
proportion in the larger interest of Indian hockey.
"I am myself concerned and I am sure everything will be
sorted out," Mattoo said.
A top HI source said that some seniors players were up in
arms against Brasa and accused him of deliberately sidelining
them.
Brasa however has denied any breakdown in his
relationship with the players and said he will personally meet
players tomorrow and clear the air.
The breakdown in the relationship between the coach and
some of the senior players came about immediately after
Sandeep Singh was sacked as captain during India's seven-match
series against Canada recently.
A HI official also said that there was no question of a
revolt as none of the players, who have skipped the camp, were
part of the squad.
"How can you call it a revolt when these six or seven
players are not in the squad. Some of them are injured while
others could not make the cut when the squad was pruned," said
the official, who did not want to be named.
Brasa, who took over as the coach in May this year, was
having problem with the Sports Authority of Indian officials
over procurement of the equipment.
Brasa was sent here as part of FIH's initiative to help
India regain its hockey glory and the contract was signed with
Sports Authority of India till the 2010 Asian Games.
Brasa took over the reins of Indian hockey team after the
acrimonious exit of legendary Australian player Ric
Charlesworth, whose tenure as Techincal Director was marked by
a series of controversies.
The players who are learnt to have been unhappy with
Brasa include Ignace Tirkey and Prabodh Tirkey, who are not in
the squad for Salta but are part of the core group preparing
for the Commonwealth Games.
The players are also miffed with the appointment of
Rajpal as the new captain, pointing out that he has little
experience and has not been a regular member of the team.
Sandeep has opted out of the ongoing camp because of a
back injury and there is still some confusion about the
seriousness of the injury and how long he will be out of the
game.
But Brasa does enjoy support of some of the players, who
say the so called revolt is the handiwork of some disgruntled
players, who could not make it to the team on merit.
"If these players had problems why they did not raise it
earlier and sort it out with the coaching staff. Why are they
raising issues just before the tournament?," a player who is
in the team, said on the condition of anonymity.
Bureau Report
First Published: Wednesday, November 18, 2009, 22:05