HOCKEY TEAM
Select goalkeeeper afresh: Court
Chandigarh: Seriously considering the case of hockey player Navneet Kaur, who was left out of the junior Asia Cup tournament, Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday ordered constitution of a board comprising sports director Pargat Singh, ex-captain Rupa Saini and two others to start fresh selection process for a goalkeeper on Saturday.
Navneet was allegedly left out of the tournament to be held at Kuala Lumpur from December 13 just because the young goalkeeper allegedly steered away from the advances of hockey coach A Edwards.
These orders from the high court have come in the wake of a petition filed by Harbhajan
Singh, father of Kaur on Friday before the division bench of justices Uma Nath Singh and Daya Chaudhary. Apart from constitution of the board, the Bench directed Union ministry of sports to ensure clearance of the team for participation.
In his petition against the Union of India, the Indian Women Hockey Federation, A Edwards and other respondents, Harbhajan Singh has sought directions to the ministry to conduct an inquiry into the incident. The petitioner has also sought strict action against the guilty officials and coaches, along with directions to the SAI to depute independent experts to determine whether Kaur was the best goalkeeper in the side. He further added if the opinion of the expert was in her favour, the federation may be directed to include her in the team for the cup.