Balbir Senior to Dilip Tirkey, all stand for Players
Balbir Singh Senior, triple Olympic Gold Medallist:
The demands of the players are fully justified & have been hanging fire for a very long time. I endorse their demands whole-heartedly. There was considerable improvement in their performance last year. Since their demands are genuine, all hockey lovers in the country support their stand.
The players are not asking for the moon but only the amount agreed upon earlier by HI. Unfortunately, lack of timely action by the ad-hoc national body has landed not only the players but also the country in the current critical and awkward situation.
Although majority of the hockey players in affluent countries abroad are generally better off financially than Indian players yet the selected players still get monthly stipends.
I myself have bitter experiences of oral promises made and not honoured. Oral promises by the ad-hoc body hardly carry any weight. Since it was formed by the IOA, now the responsibility lies with the IOA to honour the promises made by this ad-hoc body or make a written commitment.
I believe what is most important at this stage is the national prestige, therefore I would advise the players to return to the camp even if their demands are not met and prove that they are more loyal to the country than the people who are maligning them.
Michael Kindo,Former Olympian and member of 1975 world cup winning team:
If all the players have raised their voice then there must have been genunine reasons behind it. But it will also affect all the players mentally as players are generally very sentimental. It has disturbed the training schedule at the crucial stage. Even if now all the issues are settled and players are paid their dues, the ‘disturbance’ will have its impact on the prapaations for the world championship.
I pray to the almighty that this controversy should be resolved as early as possible and players resume their training. I was hoping that India would give its best in the championship but now it is difficult to predict anything in the wake of this controversy.
Lajrus Barla,Former Olympian (Sydney-2000):
Lazrus Barla was very straight forward while expressing his reactions over the players’ revolt. He said that “Very unfortunate. It will certainly damage Indian hockey. But if all the players have jointly brought the ‘Payment issue’ then there must be merit in the issue. There was never much money in hockey. But now , it seems, officials have brought it to a ‘zero’ level which forced the players to revolt. It needs very hard work to become a good hockey player and after such a hard work expecting some money is not a crime. Money is very important in today’s world. When in every other game money is increasing why in hockey it is becoming ‘zero’. In such a situation how can one expect that younger generation will pick up hockey stick and not cricket bat? Hope good sense will prevail on all the concerned and controversy would be settled amicably at the earliest so that players would concentrate fully on the world cup championship.
Dilip Tirky, World’s most capped player:
I express my solidarity with the players. The crisis is unfortunate. World Cup Hockey championship is very important for every player. And when it is being organized in our country it has assumed more importance for all of us. In such situation eruption of such controversy is not good for the game. When all the players, coaches, officials, supporting staff should have fully focused on the preparations for the championship, this controversy would affect the preparation.
I feel all senior players and officials should sit together to find the solutions as early as possible. Officials should fulfill the assurances whatever they had given to the players in the past. Players need financial support so they should paid in time. I wish the end of this controversy at the earliest.