Indian Hockey today plunged into a fresh controversy with reports of a players’ revolt against its foreign coach Jose Brasa, who has been accused of bias and being autocratic in his functioning. Some senior players, including former captain Sandeep Singh, have written a letter to Hockey India against the Spanish coach Brasa, prompting HI President A K Mattoo to fly to Pune to sort out the issue.
The players are undergoing a training camp in Pune’s Balewadi Complex for the Champions Challenge tournament to be held at Salta, Argentina, from Dec 6-13. A top HI source confirmed to PTI that a letter has been sent to the hockey establishment by some of the disgruntled players, who have accused Brasa of deliberately sidelining them.
None of the Hockey India officials were available for comment on the latest development, which has come barely a few weeks before India’s tour to Argentina. The breakdown in the relationship between the coach and some of the senior players came about immediately after Sandeep Singh was sacked as captain during India’s seven-match series against Canada recently.
A HI official however sought to downplay the development saying there was no revolt against the coach. “How can you call it a revolt when these six or seven players are not in the squad. Some of them are injured while others could not make the cut when the squad was pruned,” said the official, who did not want to be named. — PTI