Maya offers Rs 5 crore

Lucknow, January 13

In a spontaneous gesture, Chief Minister Mayawati today came to the aid of the beleaguered hockey players by offering Hockey India (HI) a financial assistance of Rs 5 crore to sort out the differences between the players and the organisation.

According to official sources, the Chief Minister has also proposed to sponsor the team for the next two years. Rs 5 crore is expected to help the hockey players, who had to serve an ultimatum on the HI by refusing to practise over their pending dues.

The Mayawati government’s announcement came immediately after junior hockey players, currently camping here at Sports Authority of India (SAI) sub-centre, announced to join the seniors in their cause. Some of the juniors are being in the reckoning to replace some of the seniors if the matter had remained unresolved. — TNS