DRONACHARYA AWARDS

Bangalore/Mumbai: Hockey coach Joaquim Carvalho has urged sports minister MS Gill to order an inquiry into the exclusion of his name from the ministry’s list of nominees for the Dronacharya award.

Claiming that he was a ‘victim’ of ‘politics’, Carvalho said he was dejected with the treatment meted out to him as the Sports Authority of India (SAI) had not referred his papers, recommended by the disbanded Indian Hockey Federation (IHF), to the selection committee.

“Why should I be made victim of politics? I know for sure that the ministry received my application well before the deadline. Let the ministry be neutral between Indian Olympic Association and IHF. Politics should not be mixed with sports,” Carvalho said.

Carvalho said he was baffled to hear from SAI director (teams) R K Naidu that he should have applied for the award through the IOA and not the federation as it had been suspended.

“Why am I being dragged into the feud between two organisations? I am an Olympian and captained the country. There may be difference of opinion or disagreement between a federation and the IOA, but no sportsperson worthy of any award should suffer this fate. Hence, I want the sports minister, who has set right a few wrongs in other sport, to intervene,” he added.

Although, his name has been recommended for the award for the fourth year in succession, Carvalho is still to get it. “Last year, Gurdial Singh Bhangu, who was in the selection committee, had vetoed my case saying that I am young have just started coaching and can get it (the award) next year (2008),”
he said.

Carvalho also claimed that because of the tussle between the IOA and the then KPS Gill-run IHF, he had sent a copy of his application directly to the sports ministry well ahead of the June 2 deadline.

“The director of the sports ministry, Joseph Sebastian, had informed me on Monday that the deadline was extended to June 2 since May 30 and May 31 were holidays. I have proof of courier acknowledgement that the ministry had received my papers on May 21 and the under secretary of the sports ministry, SSP Tomar had received the letter of recommendation from IHF on May 30,” Carvalho said.