Latest

It's players vs coaches

Rift emerges in national hockey team over HI performance incentives, players express dissatisfaction at cheques being rewarded to ‘non-protesting’ coaches, support staff

Avinash Rajput

Posted On Tuesday, January 19, 2010 at 12:46:49 AM

Kalmadi presented the cheque to player Arjun Halappa on Monday

While it was a day of justice for the players, it brought along quite an unexpected reward for the coaches and the support staff. On Monday, the agitating national hockey players finally received their due from Hockey India (HI) which presented them with performance incentive cheques.

And much to their surprise and dismay, joining them in the queue were the coaches and support staff of the national team. This ‘surprise’ reward to the coaches and the staff has now left behind an unhappy bunch of players who feel that the move is unfair to them since the coaches and the support staff never joined or supported them in their six-day protest against non-payment of salary.

WE WORK HARD, THEY BENEFIT
Truly enough, the coaches and the support staff had managed to remain in the good books of HI throughout the players’ much publicised protest. While the demand for the incentive was never placed by the team’s coaches and support staff, a willingness to reap the benefit of ‘being a team’ had been expressed by them earlier last week.

“We fought for our rights and took the pressure for so many days. We had no one with us but the players.

Now that the issue has been resolved, they [coaches and support staff] are reaping the benefits,” said a disgruntled player.

‘MONEY FOR NOTHING’
As per the players, they have a valid reason to cry foul at the ‘surprise’ reward to the coaches and staff. The team had expressed their willingness to help goalkeeper Baljit Singh who was injured during the practice session in the camp and is now battling to get his vision back.

“Though Baljit got Rs 2.5 lakh from HI last week, the team had suggested Dhanraj Pillay to give Baljit an additional amount from the money left over after distributing it among the players. But we don’t know how seriously HI has taken the whole deal.

The coaches never demanded the money, so giving it to them doesn’t make sense. Instead, it could have been given to Baljit,” rued another player.

“We are not surprised that some of them took the cheque shamelessly without even thinking twice. The least they could have done was give us moral support during our bad days,” the player added, stressing that the money could have been used for better and more constructive purposes.

T’WAS A NICE GESTURE: ASST COACH
When Mirror spoke to assistant coach Harendra Singh, he expressed surprise at the HI’s gesture, yet didn’t seem to mind it at all. Singh had maintained a safe distance from the players during their protest since the players went on a strike even after his assurance to get their dues settled.

“It was really a nice gesture by Mr Kalmadi that he considered the support staff too. Honestly speaking, we did not expect it,” Harendra said.

To the players’ sentiment that the ‘gesture’ was undeserving, he responded saying, “I would not like to comment anything at this point of time.”

IT’S JUST A GESTURE: HI
According to HI official Anupam Gulati, the coaches and the support staff were given a nominal amount for their contribution to the team’s performance and their hard work. “We have included the non-playing members of the team as they have played their role well in the team’s performance.

Though the amount is small, it’s just a gesture from HI’s side,” Gulati said. The official and the coaches however did not disclose the amount given to the coaches and the support staff.

KALMADI ‘CHEQUES’ IN
The cheques were handed over to the players by Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Suresh Kalmadi, who had to intervene to bring the agitating players back to the camp last week. Kalmadi said he was happy that HI had given the cheques to the players to honour his commitment.

“I hope this incentive would propel the boys to perform better in the Delhi World Cup,” Kalmadi said.

WHAT WAS THE PAYMENT FOR?
It was for the team’s performance for the year 2008-09, including the U-21 Asia Cup played at Hyderabad in 2008, the Punjab Gold Cup at Chandigarh, the Azlan Shah Cup at Ipoh, the test series in Argentina, New Zealand and Canada as well as the Champions Challenge Tournament at Salta, Argentina (where they won a bronze).

	Mail this article Print this article Translate this article	Rate me....
	Share Share Share Share

Contribute/ Share your Opinion

Latest

It's players vs coaches

Contribute/ Share your Opinion

More