Harpreet Kaur Lamba
New Delhi
Sept. 9: Barely two months after his appointment, physical trainer of the Indian hockey team, Jesus Garcia Pallares of Spain, left the national camp in Pune midway on Wednesday. The 27-year old trainer put in his papers to become the latest casualty of Indian bureaucratic obduracy.
Insiders reveal that lack of proper training methods and untimely salaries were two major factors that led to Pallares’s sudden departure.
Said an official on conditions of anonymity, “The government and the Sports Authority of India’s procedures are very cumbersome. One has to move at least 10 different files to get a small thing done. Hockey India had suggested that SAI to form a single window to smoothen procedures, but nothing happened.
“Foreign coaches and trainers think differently. If you promise them equipment, they take your word for it. There have been innumerous promises so far, but no delivery,” he said, before adding, “If things continue this way, the Commonwealth Games next year will end, and we will still be searching for equipment and other things.”
Pallares held his last practice session at the Balewadi sports complex on Wednesday morning, and later called for a team meeting. “I will no longer continue to be the Human Performer manager of the team. I have informed the Sports Authority of India of my decision to quit,” he told the players.
A gold medallist with the Spain’s national kayaking team at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Pallares’s expertise in the field of training made him one of the best in the business. He was a vital cog in chief coach Jose Brasa’s scheme of things, but the duo’s plan hit a roadblock owing to lack of training methods.
In the last two months, Brasa had written over two dozen letters to SAI officials, asking for early delivery of equipment he wanted. Things turned sour when Brasa reportedly had a massive showdown with SAI official Pravir Krishn, an IAS officer in charge for Indian hockey, during the latter’s visit to the national camp at Pune in June. The SAI official had reportedly raised questions about the coach’s intentions and demands for technology.
Not many know so, but a peeved Brasa had threatened to quit the very next day, but for Suresh Kalmadi’s intervention. The Indian Olympic Association president played the peacemaker forcing Brasa to stay put with the national team. Brasa’s recent outbursts — ‘Technology is fast, SAI too slow’ — against SAI have also not gone down well with the authorities, who it is learnt are determined to make things difficult for the Spaniard.
Said SAI’s Pravin Krishn on Wednesday, “We have accepted the trainer’s resignation, and have deputed a new trainer from Bengaluru, who will join the team tomorrow.”
He also brushed aside Brasa’s allegations saying the SAI was doing its best to provide the equipment for the Indian team. “We cannot buy things off the shelf in bulk. For any equipment, a tender is put up internationally, and the process for the same is on. I do not want to comment on anyone’s allegations. There is no issue here,” he said.
Brasa, on his part, refused to comment on the day.