Sports ministry fine with Oltmans taking charge

The chaos around the continuation of Paul van Ass as chief coach of the Indian men’s hockey team continues.

While Hockey India continues to insist he has not been sacked, the Dutchman has maintained that his compatriot and High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans had informed him of his ‘dismissal’.

In the midst of all this, the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and the sports ministry — who have signed the contract of employment with van Ass and pay his salary — are ignorant of both the cause and effect of the tussle.

“We have not been informed anything by either party — the federation or the coach,” a senior ministry official confirmed to The Hindu on Tuesday.

“We only know that an official decision by the federation will only be taken after their meeting on July 24. However, going by reports, even if van Ass’s services are discontinued and Hockey India wishes to give charge to Oltmans, we do not have any problem with it,” he added.

Ministry sources reason that a change in designation from HPD to chief coach doesn’t make much difference.

There isn’t much time to go through the entire process of coach selection all over either.

Also, Oltmans has been with the team long enough to understand the players and vice versa. As such, his appointment this time would be a seamless affair and not long drawn out, as was the case with Terry Walsh.

Meanwhile Oltmans, the man in the middle of all this as the supposed bearer of the termination message, has decided to remain silent.

“I am not the official spokesman on this matter and am not a party to it, so I can’t say anything,” was his only reaction when asked about van Ass’s claims.

Hockey India president Narinder Batra, though, is in no mood to back down.

He has already disputed van Ass’s claims of not getting a ticket — Batra says he was sent a ticket for July 17 way back on June 9 but did not show up — or the fact that he barged on to the pitch to talk to players, insisting he had sought permission from the coach.

As to Oltmans conveying the termination order, the Hockey India president questioned the Dutchman’s intentions.

“At the time of his appointment, van Ass refused to come to India till he received an official draft of the contract from SAI despite Oltmans confirming the decision and assuring that his salary would be taken care of. This time, he did not bother to get in touch with either the federation or SAI, sitting back and accepting Oltmans’s word. Why this double standard?” he asked.