The Tribune: Oltmans turns down offer to coach Wizards

By Sabi Hussain
Tribune News Service

At a time when the BCCI is struggling to deal with several conflict of interest controversies, Indian hockey team coach Roelant Oltmans has set an example of how not to get into such situations.

Oltmans has turned down an offer from Uttar Pradesh Wizards to continue coaching the franchise in the fourth edition of the Hockey India League (HIL). Oltmans does not want to be in a situation where he could be accused of favouritism while selecting the core probables for the Rio Games. “I said no to avoid a possible conflict of interest. Someone might accuse me of favouritism if there’s a player from UP Wizards among the Olympics probables,” Oltmans told The Tribune.

The 61-year-old Dutchman said it was important for him to concentrate on building a strong team for the Rio Games rather than spending two months with a franchise. “I’ve been assigned a specific job – to help the side do well at the Rio Games. Each day is crucial and I can’t afford to spend two months with a franchise. Obviously, all the players would be busy playing in the HIL and I would have no one to train at that time. But, still, I shouldn’t be a part of the league,” Oltmans said.

It must be mentioned here that the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had objected to Oltmans’ role in HIL’s third edition and had threatened to scrap his contract, along with that of the then chief coach Terry Walsh who had taken up a coaching assignment with Kalinga Lancers. SAI said since both the coaches had been employed by it, how could they take up an assignment with a commercial league and earn money from it?

Oltmans was, however, given a go-ahead as he was only the High Performance Director at that time, not directly involved with the day-to-day affairs of the team. Even former coach Michael Nobbs had triggered a club v/s country debate last year by criticising HI for allowing Oltmans to hold two posts simultaneously. Nobbs also disclosed that he had turned down an offer to coach an HIL team during his coaching stint with India.