Chattisgarh pay for bad behaviour

BANGALORE: Showing zero-tolerance for bad behaviour, the organizers of the senior national hockey tournament have disqualified team Chattisgarh midway through the tournament, following off-field mis-conduct by some of its players on Monday night.

The team being put up at the St Johns hostel in Koramangala, breached the rules, returning to the hostel at midnight, almost an hour past the deadline set by the facility. While on their return to the hostel, few of its players were involved in a fracas with the auto-rickshaw driver in whose auto they travelled in and later when the hostel guards stopped them from entering the premises, as it was past the deadline, the enraged players engaged in a furious bust-up with them.

Tempers continued to flare when more than 50 auto-rickshaw drivers gathered in front of the hostel gate to support their fellow driver. The police had to intervene to control the situation. AB Subbaiah, the secretary of the Organizing Committee, said the team was disqualified on disciplinary grounds. “We took such a decision as we had decided before the tournament that indiscipline will not be tolerated. After consulting Hockey India the committee decided to debar the team and they were sent back on Tuesday night,” he said.