Hyderabad : Ric Charleswor th’s controversial stint with Indian hockey has finally come to an end with the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on Friday accepting his resignation, a development which ended all speculation about the Australian legend’s future as the technical adviser.
The decision to accept Charlesworth’s resignation was taken after a meeting with top international hockey federation (FIH) officials and key members of the India Olympic Association’s (IOA) ad-hoc committee which is currently running the game in the country.
“He (Charlesworth) has done his job in a fantastic way for the future of Indian hockey. But now his role is over,” FIH president Els Van Breda Vriesman told reporters during a news conference here.
Charlesworth was sent to revive Indian hockey by the FIH as part of a project but the Australian left in a huff after expressing dissatisfaction with the way things are run here. But Vriesman said she was not disappointed about the turn of events involving Charlesworth.
“He has completed his role much to FIH’s satisfaction.
FIH has no plans to appoint any other adviser or consultant coach unless a request is made by the governing body of the game in India,” she said.
Vriesman said it had provisionally recognised the Indian Hockey Confederation as the sole governing body for the sport in India and added that there was a proposal to rename it as ‘Hockey India’ after the IHF was disbanded in the wake of a bribe scandal. On K.P.S. Gill’s participation in the AHF meeting, IOA president and chairman of adhoc committee Suresh Kalmadi made it clear that Gill would not play any role in the sport in the country.