Been fired says van Ass; HI refutes claim

Two coaches dismissed within a year, both distinguished names in world hockey — Indian hockey is back in news for all the wrong reasons. Five months into the job, chief men’s coach Paul van Ass on Monday confirmed that he had been sacked by Hockey India.

“I was sacked one week after the (Hockey World League Semifinals) tournament in Belgium. I am still waiting for an official confirmation from Hockey India or the SAI,” the Dutchman told The Hindu from the Netherlands.

Speculation on van Ass’s future with the team began after he failed to return to India as scheduled last week. HI president Narinder Batra had said that the federation had no information on the coach’s location and claimed it was unprofessional of him to neither inform nor send his report in the team’s performance. But van Ass insisted he was fired even before he could submit his report.

“I was not invited to join the camp at Shilaru. I have not submitted the report because I was already fired. Roelant Oltmans was asked to lead the camp in Shilaru. Roelant is the spokesman from HI to me, he confirmed my dismissal,” van Ass said.

He added that he has been waiting for the last one week for anything from HI — his travel tickets, an official and formal confirmation of his sacking and reasons for the same, though he confirmed he did have an argument with Batra at Antwerp (after the quarterfinal win against Malaysia) and that could be an explanation. The tournament got over on July 5 with India finishing fourth.

Batra counters claim

Batra countered van Ass’s claims, claiming the 54-year old, who led the Netherlands to a silver at the London Olympics, had neither been sacked nor denied any travel documents.

“He has not been sacked. He has not been told anything by HI. Does he have any official communique from us or the SAI? His communication with Oltmans is up to him, it has nothing to do with HI,” Batra said, adding that the travel tickets had been sent way back on June 9.

An official decision is likely to be taken by the federation only after its special committee meet on July 24 to evaluate the teams’ performances.

Interestingly, the official contract of employment for a foreign coach is signed with the Sports Authority of India but SAI officials are tight-lipped about the development. “We have no information on Paul van Ass from him or HI. We have to wait for an official communication from them,” is all SAI officials are willing to say.

Players take the hit

In the middle of all this, it is the players who are suffering. With just a year to go for the Rio Olympics, the early qualification advantage for the Indian team has all but dissipated.

“When we left Antwerp, van Ass had said he would join the team after a week in Shilaru. None of us had any clue of what was happening. All this is so sudden and distracting, we do not know what is up next,” a senior player said from Shilaru, where a short rehabilitation camp is currently on. Oltmans is in charge of the camp that would continue till August 3.

The confusion is prevalent throughout the team. “Frequent change of coaches doesn’t help. It takes time for both the coach and players to adjust and understand each other. Frequent changes affects the team’s preparations,” another said.

van Ass took over after Australian Terry Walsh was sacked in December last year. The Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year was his first tournament in charge of the team but the HWL Semifinal in Belgium was the first big challenge in an FIH event.

It isn’t the first time this has happened, though, and it doesn’t seem to be the last. During the erstwhile IHF regime, 17 coaches got the boot in KPS Gill’s tenure of 14 years, from 1994 to 2008. Since 2010, when Hockey India came into existence, four coaches have been kicked out.