Hockey world cup winning captain stopped outside stadium

New Delhi: The man, who led India to the country’s only World Cup win, became a casualty of the apathy of sports officials when he was left stranded outside the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium for a long while here on Tuesday.

Ajit Pal Singh, who was the captain when India beat Pakistan in the epic final of the 1975 World Cup, was not let inside even as he tried to make security officials understand who he was. He was asked to park his car on one side and it took a number of messages and phone calls before an official was sent to permit him in.

A government nominee and part of the selection process for the World Cup, Ajit Pal threatened not to visit the venue again before he was allowed inside in his Honda City car. “I will boycott the World Cup. Is this how former players are treated in the name of security?” Ajit Pal shouted at officials.

“I have been waiting here for so long. The guards here may not recognise me, but what about the hockey officials sitting inside? Should they not have intimated them that I was expected?” he told media persons outside the venue.

Even as announcements were made of new partnerships on the sponsorship front, the world body (FIH) as well as Indian officials seemed to be bothered little that the game was not benefiting in any way in the country. The FIH event manager, Tina Brulo Even, has been rather curt during her interactions with members of the media and even suggested that she was least bothered about the media coverage here.

Title sponsors Hero-Honda and associate sponsors Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) have reportedly pledged Rs12 crore and Rs8 crore, respectively, much more than the FIH can manage anywhere else in the world. The world body’s chief Leandro Negre has also gone on record saying that the facilities at the Major Dhyan Chand Stadium would help boost the viewership of the game.

But they don’t seem to be much bothered by how it actually helps uplift a game that was once the pride of the nation but is now down in the dumps. Former greats are now in a long recent list of aggrieved persons which include current players, the media and the public, which has been struggling to buy tickets as none seem to be available for the India matches. Another former captain, Pargat Singh, has already gone on record saying he feared this would be the worst World Cup ever.