‘That’s insult, not a reward’

A day after the victorious men’s hockey team trashed the “paltry amount” offered by Hockey India to the Asian Champions Trophy-winning squad, hockey greats lashed out at the federation, saying, if they didn’t have enough money in their coffers, they should not have announced it. Ashok

Kumar, the son of legendary hockey player, Dhyan Chand, said, “This is shameful. If you don’t have enough funds, you shouldn’t announce incentives. Hockey is an expensive sport. Even a good pair of playing shoes costs upwards of Rs 5000. The reward should be commensurate with the financial needs of the players,” he said.
Ministry steps in

On a day when the federations threw its hands up, saying it could not afford more than Rs 25000 as reward to each player, the sports ministry calmed down frayed tempers, announcing Rs 1.5 lakh to each member and the Punjab government chipped in with a purse of Rs 25 lakh.

But HI found itself at the receiving end of hockey veterans’ barbs. Former skipper Pargat Singh said that it was an insult to the players. “The issue was mishandled. Such a meager reward should not have been given at a public function…better not to give money than to give such a meager amount,” he opined.