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30-08 Brasa was sidelined during Europe tour Harendra Singh coach

2010-08-30 16:08:00

India’s chief hockey coach Jose Brasa may have expressed his desire to quit the team now but things haven’t been smooth for the Spaniard for some time. While Brasa continues to be systematically sidelined, his assistant Harendra Singh is getting major say in every team decision, from selections to planning.

During the team’s tour to Europe last month, Brasa and Harendra took turns to be in charge of the team. On Friday, Brasa claimed he had been given no reason for this constant change of guard. “I was told to sit out for the last five matches. When I asked Hockey India the logic behind this, they did not give me any answer,” Brasa said on the sidelines of the selection trials for the Commonwealth Games.

The growing rift between Brasa and the federation became evident during the players’ strike for payment way back in January, with the coach backing the players. Since then, it has been all downhill for the coach.

The official reaction to his outburst was on expected lines. Hockey India secretary Narinder Batra said Brasa had not done anything worthwhile during his stay here. “He keeps cribbing. He wants to quit after Asian Games. He should rather leave today and let Harendra Singh takes charge,” said Batra.

Asked about Brasa’s complaint of having no say in selection matters, Batra said the Spaniard always got what he wanted. “Every team selected has been approved by him. He wants to do away with the selection committee; we can’t do that. Even though the government doesn’t recognise us anymore, it does have a system in place for national teams.

He creates divisions in the team. Why didn’t he protest when all these things were happening?” he said. Team sources, however, say that Brasa was feeling suffocated in the present set-up. “If you don’t give him facilities, he will leave,” a team management official said. According to several players, Brasa’s contribution cannot be measured in terms of medals. “Indian team had become also-rans for more than 10 years. Now, we are slowly being taken seriously again,” they said.

SAI assistant director Virendra Bhandarkar said the coach was bringing up an unnecessary controversy. “We give the coach Rs 7 lakhs as salary. He can use that to buy the house he wanted in Delhi, a four star residence in Pune or his children’s school admissions. When the CWG are so close, the time is to focus on training and not bringing up controversies,” said Bhandarkar.

He, however, admitted that the software and the imported equipment took time to arrive but are now available. Senior player Prabhjot Singh, who was dropped after the World Cup and whose inclusion in the team has been a nagging point between Jose Brasa and the federation, has claimed that the coach had repeatedly asked for him to be included in the camp. “He kept mailing the Hockey India officials to call me for the camp (copies with The Indian Express). Way back in April he had written to them. He was told to shut up and concentrate on working with those he had,” Prabhjot claimed.

Prabhjot and Deepak Thakur have repeatedly been named either the top-scorers or best players in the four domestic tournaments played since the World Cup. In addition, Prabhjot was also impressive during his stint with Monchengladbach club in the German league. But the two have been ignored. “We have been given no reason to be dropped, except our poor performance in the World Cup. We must at least be good enough to be among the 40 probables for the national squad,” he said.

Prabhjot added that he had repeatedly tried to talk to the federation but without success. “I called them, messaged them, mailed them. I asked them to at least give me a reason; they never rsponded,” he said, adding that, if need be, he may even try to meet Sports Minister MS Gill to seek redressal. “The CWG trials are on, nothing can be done now. But maybe they will at least consider me for the Asian Games,” he said. - Uthra G. Chaturvedi

Indian express