BackHockey, Sarita Devi in trouble
India's hockey coach resigns, then reconsiders; and Sarita Devi is suspended for her Asiad protest
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Will Terry Walsh stay?
Australian Terry Walsh, who resigned as Indian men’s hockey team chief coach on Tuesday because of a “pay dispute", hinted that he was ready to reconsider his decision if given a new contract on his terms and conditions by the Sports Authority of India (SAI).
The 60-year-old Australian, a former Olympian, submitted his resignation in dramatic fashion barely three weeks after guiding the team to a historic gold in the Asian Games, saying that he was finding it difficult to adjust to the decision-making style of the sporting bureaucracy in the country. On a day of high drama, Walsh’s resignation created a flutter in the hockey fraternity and triggered off a blame game between Hockey India (HI) and SAI. While HI maintained that the pay dispute and suffocating bureaucracy had prompted Walsh to quit, SAI rubbished that claim, saying the Australian had never complained of any financial issues.
“I hereby tender my resignation as the chief coach, Indian men’s hockey team...," Walsh said in a letter sent to SAI director general Jiji Thomson on Sunday. “I am finding considerable difficulty adjusting to the decision-making style of the sporting bureaucracy in India which I believe, in the long term, is not in the best interests of Indian hockey or its players," said Walsh, under whom India also won a silver in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games held earlier this year.
“In addition to my difficulties with not being able to professionally operate within these bureaucratic confines, I am not willing to continue with the constant time away from my family in Australia. My current commitment places too much stress on my personal life," he added.
Soon after his resignation, Union sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal said he was looking for a resolution of the issue. “It’s a serious issue. After learning about the development, I have passed on the instructions to SAI director general and secretary, sports, to explain the cause of the resignation within 24 hours," Sonowal said.
Thomson said he was surprised at Walsh’s decision as the Australian had not made any complaints earlier. “We are extremely surprised and disappointed with the sudden resignation of Terry Walsh, one of the finest coaches in world hockey," Thomson said in a press release.
“We are extremely satisfied with his performance and it was because of his outstanding professional credentials that he was selected as chief coach. He was appointed on 21 October last year. Ever since then he has not even made any complaint about anything concerning Indian hockey. If Walsh has had any complaint about the functioning of SAI, he could very well have come and discussed it with us," Thomson said.
Hours after his resignation was made public, Walsh, whose contract was to run till the 2016 Rio Olympics, met SAI officials and said he was looking for a “re-negotiation" of his contract. “There is obviously a fatigue factor but I feel I just need to move away from the contents of what presently exists in my contractual arrangements. We are now looking at the possibility of how that can be reset," Walsh said. “Let’s see what happens. We have got a month to solve that."
Walsh said that unless there were changes in the way things work in India, it would be difficult to produce results in the 2016 Rio Olympics. “There need to be some changes and alterations in the way things operate for us to be able to really give it a good shot in 2016. Without those changes I can’t believe that we can go forward," he said.PTI
Sarita Devi barred from world championship
Indian boxer Sarita Devi was provisionally suspended on Wednesday by the sport’s world governing body after refusing to accept her bronze medal at the Asian Games in a protest against the judging.
It means she will not be allowed to participate in the world championships to be held in Jeju Island, South Korea, in November, the International Boxing Association (Aiba) said in a statement.
Aiba, which has referred the suspension to its disciplinary commission for a review, has also barred India’s chief boxing coach Gurbaksh Sandhu, assistant coaches Sagar Dhayal and Blaz Iglesias Fernandes, and India’s chef de mission for the Asian Games, Adile Sumariwala, from its events until further notice.
Sarita Devi, who controversially lost after appearing to dominate her lightweight (60kg) Asiad semi-final bout against South Korean boxer Park Ji-Na in Incheon, tearfully refused to accept the bronze during the medal ceremony. The contentious defeat a day earlier had sparked ugly scenes and scuffles as Sarita Devi’s enraged husband tried to lead a protest, resulting in him launching an expletive-filled rant at officials.
At an extraordinary podium ceremony, Sarita Devi twice refused the medal before hanging it around the neck of her stunned Korean opponent. She later issued an “unconditional apology" to the Olympic Council of Asia for her behaviour.
There were protests over a number of judging decisions in favour of home boxers during the Games, which were held in the South Korean city in September-October. Mongolian and Filipino boxers also suffered controversial defeats, prompting calls from their delegation officials for a review of the scoring system. The Incheon organizing committee complained about Sarita Devi’s behaviour at the time and said it had written to Aiba, calling on the governing body to “ensure fair play in competition".AFP
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