Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi, March 10: India on Monday was ousted from even partaking in the Beijing Olympics 2008 hockey competition. The defeat meant that India would be out from the Olympics arena for the first time in over eight decades.
- Narendra Batra, (outgoing vice-president, IHF): “I have resigned in disappointment. The government should take over the association for the next 10 years and run it through former sportspersons and administrators to bring hockey back on track. Morally, he (IHF president KPS Gill) should (step down), but he will not do so. He is stubborn.”
Have Your Say: Who is to blame for India’s Hockey fiasco?
“The rift in IHF became public with Batra alleging that Gill and IHF secretary general K Jyothikumaran were not on talking terms. I know that Gill and Jyothikumaran are not talking to one another for six to seven months. Hockey is in a mess. “
“Joaquim was a compromise choice as coach. I will blame him for the debacle. But I will not blame the players because they live in sub-standard conditions, wash their own clothes and get almost no allowance.“
- Aslam Sher Khan, (Olympian and former Indian captain): “Indian Hockey has reached its nadir. It’s really the saddest day for all the sports lovers of the country. We created our own identity in the world hockey. And with this, we have lost that identity of 80 glorious years.”
- Dhanraj Pillay, (Olympian and former Indian captain): “It is indeed the saddest day for Indian hockey. I am still in a state of shock.“
- Jalaluddin, (Olympian): “The head of IHF is not coming out with any statements. He should take accountability for this shameful defeat and step down from his post. “
- Gagan Ajit Singh, (Olympian): “It is the saddest day for Indian hockey. The IHF top brass, including its president and coach, should step down immediately and pave way for fresh people. Team’s failure to qualify for the Olympics after 80 years was not just a "national shame", but a great disappointment for world hockey as well.“
- Balwinder Singh Shammi, (Olympian): “Coach Joaquim Carvalho and the selectors should step down after the team’s shock defeat.“
- Narinder Singh Sodhi, (Coach, Junior World Cup winning team of 2001): “It was a black day for our hockey, but it is not the end of the road".
- Satinder Sharma, (International hockey umpire): “Now we will have to re-draw our strategy and do some re-thinking. We will also have to put in a lot of effort at the grassroots level. Creating discipline among our players is also very important so that they don’t have to sit out on account of receiving yellow cards.”
Blame game begins, Gill faces wrath
India’s shocking breakdown against England and the subsequent failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics has drawn flak not only from the hockey fraternity, but from the politicians as well. Most vocal among them was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
Terming the loss disappointing, the MP assured that ‘I will talk to the IHF president and the hockey team.’ His partyman Sandeep Dixit stressed on the need to develop a new sports structure.” The government should not give federation a freehand.
- Manishankar Aiyyar
Sports Minister Mani Shankar Aiyyar refused to comment on IHF president’s future, but termed the loss as ‘extremely sad’. - Gurudas Das Gupta
CPI leader Gurudas Das Gupta blamed KPS Gill for the debacle. “It’s a matter of national shame. Despite numerous complaints against Gill, no action is ever taken against him,” he alleged.
He also rued the fact that there was no one to look after sports other than cricket in India.
