Hockey India left fuming as five senior players desert camp

Five senior players left the Indian national hockey probables’ camp underway at the Sports Authority of India, Southern Centre here on Wednesday night, a move that could very well jeopardise their chances of further participation in the camp.

The senior pros — Prabhjot Singh, Adrian D’Souza, Sardar Singh, Arjun Halappa and Sandeep Singh — sought permission to attend the Indian Hockey Federation’s World Series Hockey press conference at Mumbai on Thursday and, when denied the same, decided to desert the national camp being conducted by Hockey India. They appeared in person on Thursday afternoon at the event addressed by Nimbus Communications — the promoters of WSH — executive chairman Harish Thawani.

Completely miffed over the five players’ action, Hockey India’s chairman of development committee Pargat Singh said such indiscipline would not be tolerated. “They have jeopardised India’s preparations for the Olympic qualifiers,” Pargat said. “This is gross indiscipline and highly condemnable. No player is bigger than the nation.

“We are here because of hockey and the country always comes first. I’m not against players making money, but not by compromising national interests.” The former India skipper also indirectly hinted that the five players may be axed from the camp.

“If the players behave as if they were supreme, then we need to say, ‘Thank you for your services, please leave’. We can prepare a new team. We may not qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, but at least we can prepare a good team for 2016.”

Camp chief co-ordinator and assistant coach SS Grewal said the five players approached him on Wednesday night seeking permission to attend the press conference. “They came to my room last night seeking permission to go to Mumbai to attend the press conference. I clearly told them that I cannot give them the clearance and if they are hell-bent on attending the IHF event, then they need to talk to Hockey India or the SAI director (G Kishore).

“It’s obvious they would not have got the permission at 8 pm, so they just left without any further information. They did not report to the camp today and I apprised Hockey India, Kishore and SAI Executive Director (Team’s Wing) in New Delhi,” added Grewal.

Asked if the five players would be allowed to attend the camp upon their return from Mumbai, Grewal replied with a firm no. “Until I get permission from HI or SAI ED team, I cannot take them back into the camp.”