By IANS,
Hyderabad : Malaysia and Singapore Tuesday rubbished media reports that they have accused India and Pakistan of fielding overage players in the ongoing junior Asia Cup hockey tournament here.
“We have not accused any team of fielding over-age players. If we have to do so we will complain to the tournament director and not speak to the media,” Malaysian coach Muralidharan Vasudevan told IANS.
“It is all baseless and false reports. There is no such complaint from our side. Somebody asked me whether we have lodged any complaint against India and I denied. How can we complain when we do not have any proof? Moreover these things are cleared before the start of the tournament,” he added.
Singapore coach Chiow Chuan Lim reiterated Vasudevan’s comments.
“We have not complained against any team of fielding overage players,” he said.
Indian Olympic Association (IOA) ad-hoc committee convener Mohammad Aslam Khan said there was no question of any team complaining because these things are sorted out before the start of the tournament.
He said it was an attempt to create a bad name for the tournament.
“I do not know who is spreading this rumour. We will find out. It is completely baseless and is only creating a bad the name for the tournament which is being organised so well. There is no complaint against any team of fielding overage players. I do think such malicious reports needs any attention,” said Aslam.
“As per the rules, the players of all the participating teams go through check-ups. All participating nation are given reports about the rest of the teams. If any team has to complain they must do it before the start of the tournament and have to play under protest,” he said.