Camps postponed to 15th, stalemate continues

Men and women’s national camps will start here in New Delhi from 15th onwards instead of today.

Failure to arrive at a consensus on the list of probables has caused delay in commencing the camps which was supposed to start on 9th.

Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, which is engaging both Hockey India and Indian Hockey Federation, could not make any progress. The task before the Ministry was to evolve a consensus on coaches and the list of probables.

While IHF is suggesting V. Baskaran or Jude Felix for men’s chief coach and GS Bhangu for women’s, the other group’s choice for the same is Harendra Singh and CR Kumar, respectively.

Though the list of probables for these two groups has as many as 30 common names such as Arjun Halappa, Sandeep Singh, Sardar Singh etc, the case of fringe players are notably different.

For instant, Tamil Nadu’s young goalie Naveen figures in the Hockey India list and missing in the other group’s list.

The contentious issue now is inclusion of Prabhjot Singh in the IHF list while Hockey India vehemently opposes this.

In a meeting convened by the Executive Director (Teams) in the Sports Authority of India, while Olympian Joaquim Carvalho stood for the inclusion of Prabhjot Singh, Hockey India’s official (Anupam Ghulati) opposed vehemently.

It is interesting to note here that Jose Brasa, immediate past national coach, wanted Prabhjot Singh while Hockey India used dummy selectors to deny him his choice of players particularly Prabhjot Singh.

The lack of consensus from both factions – which in any case is not going to spend single pie from their pocket to train players, as the expenses are borne by the government – is not surprising as this tussle will make or mar groups’ chances of fortifying their case of hockey chair.

It is unfortunate that despite announcement by none other than Union Minister himself, the training camps did not start.

The development, or to be specific the lack of it, has immediate impact on women’s hockey. They were supposed to train for a fortnight (9th to 20th) and then were to be released for making them available for the Inter-Railways competition.

Now that the camps are postponed second time, it is unlikely that it will come true for the ladies, for, it is mandatory for them to play in their department’s event. The Inter-Railways for women will start on 22nd in Punjab.

A mega stadium with three turfs is lying unused since three months, but the government despite its earnest effort, could not set in motion even a national camp.