10 Reasons why Gill should resign

Under the Indian Hockey Federation chief KPS Gills’ ‘wisdom’ and will, India flopped in 3 Olympics, 3 World Cups and 4 Champions Trophies. Here are ten reasons why Gill should resign, giving way for fresh thinking.

1.Sullying Country’s Image: Appoints a convict, who had undergone imprisonment, as chief coach and a dope cheat (banned for two years) as his assistant. Handing over Indian hockey to a convict and cheat is a national shame. The hockey world is amazed and annoyed. Even the FIH is sore and the world’s coaches are embarrassed to count these two as one among them. New Zealand, Australia, Germany advertise for new coaches after the Olympics, India continues with a liability called Rach.

2.Personal fiefdom: Gill’s security guardian is a member of FIH’s Communication Committee, a prestigious group of world’s leading journalists. He is completely out of place and ‘insecure’ there. The IHF office does not have STD facility but at Gill’s residence; telephone bills more than 10 lac a year.

3.Autocratic Ways: No Selection Committee till public demonstrations. Denied continuity to star players on his whim and fancy. No same set of coaching staff for any two successive tournaments, be it senior or junior levels. Gill is hockey is 9/11. Often misused word: Resting. Announces dropping of players for Pak series midway through Olympics.

4.Moral Responsibility: Selection Committee Chairman since last 11 years, a mockery of sort while about 20 triple hockey Olympians are alive, active and waiting to serve. Any surprise India not in semis of any FIH tournament — Olympics, World Cup or Champions Trophy — in all these years.

5.Blatant Betrayal: Accorded both selection and training responsibilities to his favourite coaches, who easily took him for a ride, using his lack of technical knowledge. Result: freeloaders in every tournament. Woke up to this folly late and sacked them — 10 of them in 10 years. This habit refuses to die, as we hear him heaping paeans of praise on failed coach Gerard Rach.

6.Loose Tongue: Unheard levels of foul language. Latest: “I don’t want coaches who lick the boot of players”. Called a journalist ‘scoundrel’ in Sep. 2003. Examples are galore. Comments even on techniques and tactics f the game, ends up eating his own words.

7.Losing Elections: India visits at least 10 countries in a year. NRIs control many National Federations such as Kenya and New Zealand. Yet Gill gets 4 votes in the FIH Executive Board Member election (Perth 2002) and thus gets eliminated in the first round; paltry 3 votes in the Asian Hockey Federation President election. What a shame! Huge money wasted in all these futile exercises. In 11 years, India got only one CT while Pakistan got 3 and Malaysia the World Cup, Japan the Olympic Qualifiers.

8.Neglect of Domestic Hockey: Senior Nationals, an annual feature even during World Wars, not held since 2000; staged only thrice in last 11 years. Surprising indeed the Sports Ministry continues to recognize the IHF and release grants.

9.Allergic to victories: Title wins, though few and far between, were followed by reckless sacking of victorious coaches and leading players, mercilessly breaking the winning combination. After Asia Cup victory in 2003, India lost all but one of 8 tournaments due to such wayward sacking and swapping of players and coaches.

10.Dhanraj Phobia: Gill’s bete noire, ghost and single point agenda all through. In any other sport, likes of Pillays would have been hailed and marketed as role model, but in Gill’s raj he is systematically sacked and humiliated. Of late Gill wants to escape from Athens disaster on Dhanraj’s shoulder, uses every means to make him the culprit, though Pillay played five spectacular matches at Athens. Pillay is Gill’s PR tool that kept him in news!

Prospects: The former Director General of Police, an Indian icon, will be addressing press conferences in the company of ‘tainted’ caoch and dope duper. Hail Gill and his brand of administration.