I have not humiliated anyone, says coach Brasa

NEW DELHI: All set to bid adieu to India after a bitter-sweet stint which is ending acrimoniously, chief hockey coach Jose Brasa said he deserved better from the system and refuted captain Rajpal Singh’s allegations that he had been humiliating him.

“I have been very critical throughout my tenure and naturally officials did not like me. I don’t think that my contract will be renewed hence it is my last day in the country.” Brasa, who took charge of Indian team in June 2009, said in an interview.

The Spaniard also ridiculed Rajpal’s allegations that he had been constantly “humiliating” him during the World Cup earlier this year.

“I have not humiliated anyone. It is a fact that not only me but everyone in the support staff wanted Prabhjot Singh as the captain. Hockey India chose Rajpal over him. I still had very cordial relations with Rajpal whom I consider as an honest player and good human being,” he said

“I always favoured the idea of having rotational captaincy like Australia. Rajpal is a brilliant player who could have played much better without the additional pressure of captaincy,” he added.

Neither Hockey India nor Sports Authority of India officials have contacted him after his return from Guangzhou where India fetched a bronze medal in the Asian Games.

He met SAI Director General Sayan Chaterjee on Monday who told him to wait for another two-three weeks.

“Mr Chaterjee told me that Sports Minister ( MS Gill) will take a call on the renewal of the contract of all foreign coaches. It will take two-three weeks. Anyways I am leaving for Spain tomorrow and I don’t think that I will have any reason to come back to India,” said the veteran coach.

“Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra has said on record that I am an average coach and he would have sacked me. They have refused to recognise me after World Cup,” he said.

When asked about his experience with Indian Hockey, Brasa declined to call it a bitter one but felt that a chief coach deserved better from the system.

“Here, the problem lies with the system, not with the players. I did not get the respect I deserve from the system. HI and SAI were against me. They did not even reply to my mails in the past few months,” he revealed.

“Under a clause of my contract, SAI will pay me certain prize money on winning international medals. I have sent two-three emails to Mr Rahul Bhatnagar (joint secretary, sports ministry) and S S Roy (director of teams, SAI) but they did not reply. Other then this SAI has to pay me 8000 euros which were wrongly deducted from my account,” he said.

“Mr Chaterjee told me today that SAI will consider my request and will pay me the money. I don’t know when it is going to happen. The fact remains that I am going back tomorrow,” said the coach under whom India won the Azlan Shah Cup, a silver medal in Delhi CWG and the Asiad bronze medal.

“I don’t have any other option left. I was forced to shift into a three star accommodation after coming back from China. My visa is also expiring tomorrow. I have to go anyhow. Now I will wait for their decision in Spain.” he said.