When will this blame game cease?
S. Thyagarajan
Chennai: Another goof-up, and a blame game again. The non-performance of the self appointed custodian of Indian hockey is showing up day by day.
The chaos preceding the departure of the Indian team for the European tour on Thursday is one more illustration of how unprofessional the self-styled set-up is.
Hardly had the trauma that pushed the senior women’s team to run from pillar to post before boarding the flight to Kazan last month for the Champions Challenge II died down, comes the harrowing experience for the men’s team on the eve of the very important tour.
Shifting the blame
Hockey India conveniently shifted the blame on the travel agent for the women team’s fiasco. That none of the officials was present to receive the victorious team from Kazan tells another story of indifference.
For the confusion at the Pune airport, the whipping boy is Sports Authority of India (SAI). For all the toil endured during the long coaching camp, where several shortcomings were portrayed by the media, the officials will now carry the stink for which they alone are not responsible.
Too many posers
Does Hockey India have no role in ensuring whether the arrangements are perfect before the departure of the team? Where was the manager? Is Harendra Singh an assistant coach to Jose Brasa, or a transport-cum-baggage manager? Will the Sports Ministry and SAI take all such accusations lying down?
These questions crop up when an evaluation is made to identify factors that really went wrong at the SAI camp in Pune, and why the team reached the airport in the nick of time and blame the airlines concerned for not honouring the national players.
An eye injury, seen as really serious by medical experts, has laid low the country’s best goal-keeper days before the departure.
Several posers are raised in this regard, the chief one relating to training with a golf ball. Coaches like V. Baskaran, who had handled national teams for several years, view this method as strange and wonder the benefit from such an exercise.
Tinge of discomfort
While everyone prays for Baljit Singh recovering his vision quickly, there is a trace of discomfort that the National team has embarked on a very significant tour, to take on such strong outfits as England, Belgium, Holland and Spain, without the tested and tried goal-keeper.
The opponents are bound to gain a lot by playing India on the eve of European championship at Amsterdam starting on August 22.
This tour is probably the only imaginative programme conceived and executed by HI notwithstanding the emerging imperfections. This is also an acid test for the Spaniard Brasa to establish his credentials and the efficacy of the new methods he had attempted during training.
Negre coming
The FIH boss, Leandro Negre, is to visit Delhi on July 27, presumably to sign the World Cup sponsorship contract with a reputed auto giant, Hockey India and issues related to its formation will be in sharp focus.
The IOA directive to State Olympic Associations to disaffiliate hockey units in their jurisdiction and replace them with a single entity is getting into rough weather apart from causing a great deal of concern to the associations who have been recognised by their respective sports ministries and governments for decades.
The injunction obtained by Rajasthan Hockey Association from the Jaipur High Court against the State Olympic Association from carrying out the IOA directive adds a new dimension.
Interestingly, Mr. Negre has expressed a desire to include J.B. Roy in the meeting.
If Mr. Roy does not get an invite, which is quite likely, then Mr. Negre is prepared for a luncheon meeting with him and discuss the scenario subsequent to the decision to create Hockey India and its ramifications.
Courtesy: The Hindu