Zeenews Bureau/Biswajit Jha
Indian women’s hockey team centre forward Deepika Murthy came down heavily on the Hockey India (HI)on Thursday, saying that the money offered to them by the governing body is ‘an insult.’
Talking exclusively to Zeenews.com, Deepika lambasted Hockey India for not being sympathetic to their demands and needs.
“Rs 50,000 is much less than what we deserve. Our dues are almost Rs 3 lakhs…but they have offered just Rs 50,000 which is an insult to us.”
Stating that they would continue to fight for their rights by wearing black armbands during the ongoing training camp in Bhopal, Deepika said that they want Hockey India to pay their dues as soon as possible.
“We want our dues immediately. We have suffered a lot…we kept quite for a long time”, said an angry Deepika.
She also claimed that their captain Surinder Kaur talked to HI president Vidya Stokes over payment issues on Thursday, but Stokes said that they can’t give more money as they are now concerned with forthcoming World Cup, scheduled to be held in India in February-March.
She also spoke against the step-motherly treatments meted out to them by HI. She informed that several of their foreign tours were cancelled owing to the callous attitude of the HI.
She also said that since the governing body is not sympathetic to their needs, they have opened an account where the entire sporting fraternity could contribute.
First Published: Thursday, January 21, 2010, 17:51