Aslam Sher Khan says India has nothing to do with match-fixing after allegations were made about a match involving the national team
Despite a Malaysian tabloid reporting that the India and Malaysia match at last months Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament was fixed, selection committee chairman Aslam Sher Khan seems pretty relaxed, saying they need not worry as the controversy doesnt involve India.
“We have nothing to do as we had a very good tournament there. If the Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) has lodged a complaint against a few of their players, its their problem and we have no role in this apart from waiting for the outcome of the investigation,” Khan told on Wednesday.
He also said there was no need for any probe into the matter. “We are not doing any investigation… It is now between Malaysia and the FIH,” he said, while also insisting that he had no idea if any such thing had actually happened. “We played a clean tournament and we dont have any knowledge about any fixing.”
Khan also pointed out that it may be the consequence of infighting in the Malaysian federation. “We are not bothered with Malaysias infighting,” he added.
Earlier, a tabloid report from Kuala Lumpur claimed that several Malaysian players had fixed a match against India in the Azlan Shah Cup as they had placed online bets on losing their last round-robin game. A complaint has also been lodged by the Malaysian Hockey Federation to the police. According to news received from Malaysia, MHF have started their own investigation on the allegations. For the record, India won the game 2-1 on May 17 to reach the summit clash. They, however, went down to Argentina in the final.
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has said it was in the dark about the allegations but would look into the thing once the probe is over. “This is the first time we have heard of such allegations. We compliment the MHF for their prompt action and will wait for the results of the investigation,” FIH president Els van Breda Vriesman was quoted as saying by a Malaysian daily.
Indian team for Azlan Shah
Goalkeepers: Baljeet Singh, Sreejesh PR; Defenders: Diwakar Ram, Sandeep Singh, Innocent Kullu, Sameer Baxla; Midfielders: Sarvanjit Singh, Ranjeet Singh, Bikram Kanth, Sardar Singh, Cheeyana AB, Gurbaj Singh; Forwards: Vivek, SV Sunil, Gurvinder Singh Chandi, Tushar Khandekar (captain), Shivender Singh, Mandeep Antil; Chief coach: AK Bansal; Coach: Rajesh Chauhan; Asst Coach: Ramesh Parmeshwaran