Chief hockey coach Michael Nobbs to join camp on Thursday

Biswajyoti Brahma, TNN

NEW DELHI: The suspense over chief hockey coach Michael Nobbs is finally over. The Australian, who was on a prolonged “leave” as the concerned authorities worked on his contract, would be joining the national camp on Thursday.

But another Australian, physiologist David John, is unlikely to resume his duty as he is unhappy with the salary he was getting.

“Nobbs would be landing in the Capital on Wednesday night and head to Patiala, venue of the national camp, on Thursday morning,” Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra told TOI.

“As far as John is concerned, he is not coming since he has some salary issues. He has been unfair and unreasonable with his demands,” Batra said adding that Hockey India would be taking a final call on John soon after which it will look for an alternative.

The contracts of both Nobbs and John were up for review after the London Olympics. HI had forwarded their files to their employers, the Sports Authority of India (SAI).

The files subsequently went to the sports ministry and the finance ministry for approval. The procedure took some time, delaying Nobbs’ return to the country.

HI had to start the national camp for Champions Trophy and few other tournaments from October 15 at Patiala without Nobbs.

Batra had created a flutter earlier this month when he said that he was not aware when Nobbs would retutn. SAI had later cleared the air by starting the visa process for the former international in the second week of the month.