Hockey India Panel looks to FIH for foreign expert

By Tushar Bhaduri in New Delhi

HOCKEY India’s ( HI) expert committee, which is searching for a foreign expert for the national men’s team, is looking to the world body to suggest suitable candidates for the job.

The debacle at last month’s Sultan Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, the first assignment with Harendra Singh at the helm, had prompted the federation to look for foreign help.

The sports ministry has also given its nod for Hockey India’s search.

“ The ministry has given inprinciple clearance to our proposal.

We will get back to them in a couple of days with a few names for foreign expert,” Hockey India secretary general Narinder Batra told M AIL T ODAY on Monday.

The panel, headed by former national captain Pargat Singh, is responsible for the search. AB Subbaiah, Jagbir Singh, SS Grewal and Balbir Singh are the other members.

The panel has been asked to get back to the Hockey India executive committee by June 15 with recommendations. Pargat, however, had gone on record saying that 15 days is too short a time to search for a foreign expert, when he had made the same recommendation in January itself.

“ We will prefer the foreign expert to take charge of the team, but all options are open,” Batra said. “ It depends on the availability of the candidates.” Subbaiah, meanwhile, said the committee was taking the International Hockey Federation’s ( FIH) help in arriving at a suitable candidate.

“ They ( FIH) want to know the exact expertise we need — whether we require a project manager, an advisor, fitness expert, or chief coach,” the former goalkeeper told M AIL T ODAY . “ A decision in this regard is expected this week itself.

“ FIH has its own coaching panel and will know who is available,” Subbaiah said.

“ After we have shortlisted the candidates, we will call them to India for interviews.” Spaniard Jose Brasa, who was at the helm till the Guangzhou Asian Games in November, is an FIH master coach and came to India on a personnel recommendation of the world body’s president Leandro Negre.

The sports ministry said it would look favourably into the matter once Hockey India comes up with a concrete proposal.

“ We had a meeting with Hockey India today. We told them that we will look into it when they give us a definite proposal,” joint secretary ( sports) Injeti Srinivas told M AIL T ODAY . “ After the Azlan Shah Cup, there was a review of the team’s performance and it was recommended that a foreign expert was required. Government observers Dilip Tirkey and Harbinder Singh also hold the same view.” When asked what the latest developments meant for Harendra and his support staff, Srinivas indicated that they were not appointed for a long term.

“ It had been decided to hold on to the coaching team at the Commonwealth Games minus Brasa, and review the performance after the Azlan Shah tournament.

“ It was felt that the performance of the team was sub- optimal.

There was a problem with the consistency of the side and the team seems to have fallen short on the tactical aspects as well. A foreign expert is needed, and if he brings his own support staff with him, we are open to that as well,” the joint secretary said.

India cannot afford to miss out on an Olympic berth for a second successive time, with the qualifiers on home soil in February.

“ Making it to the Olympics is critical and we can’t compromise on that. A miss won’t augur well for hockey in India,” Srinivas said.

“ But in the long run we need a strong and professional coaching system with emphasis on all aspects of the game. That will make a world of difference.” tushar.bhaduri@mailtoday.in