By IANS,
Pune/New Delhi: A day after Hockey India (HI) and senior players said they have struck a deal over outstanding payments, the rest of the players at the Pune camp outrightly rejected the accord and said they would continue with their boycott of the camp for the World Cup preparation.
HI treasurer Narendra Batra, who was present in the meeting, termed it nothing but “blackmailing” by the players, and more so when they are preparing for a major event like the World Cup which India is hosting.
Senior HI officials are flying to Pune Monday to sort out the matter. It is not clear though who will be travelling because there are important election-related meetings with International Hockey President vice-president Antonio Van Ondarza Monday.
Six players — skipper Rajpal Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh, Thushar Khandekar, Sardara Singh and Arjun Halappa — met HI president and other officials Saturday and after a marathon meeting that lasted close to four hours said the issue of non-payment of match fees, sponsorship money and bonuses has been resolved and promised to end the boycott.
But the players after reaching Pune Sunday discussed the agreement threadbare with the rest of the campers and did not found any takers for the deal.
“We had told HI officials that we will go back and discuss the agreement with our teammates. They were not satisfied with the outcome. So, it was decided that the boycott would continue and they would not be attending the camp on Monday,” Prabhjot told IANS.
Batra said the players have gone back on their word by refusing to continue with the training.
“It’s shocking. It amounts to nothing but blackmailing by the players. They think they can have their way because they are preparing for the World Cup,” he said.
“We had a long meeting Saturday and they were happy with the outcome. They came out in the media and said they are satisfied with the agreement. If they still had problems, we could have heard them out,” Batra said.
HI agreed to pay Rs. 25,000 as an ad hoc payment before they sit down and sort out other issues since its prime concern now is to put an elected management in place.
It is clear the players have decided to act now because they are not sure of what will happen once the elected body comes into being.
HI had also told the players of the financial mess involving repayment of loans taken for sending the teams for international events.
Chief coach Jose Brasa said that he has been informed by the players about the decision to skip the camp.
“We came to know in the afternoon about their decision. They said they are not satisfied with the result of the meeting,” Brasa told IANS.
Asked whether it will hamper the preparation for the WOrld Cup, Brasa said: “we are strong enough to cross every hurdle. They have a problem at hand and they want to solve it. They are also disappointed that they have to miss the training camp because they are preparing hard for the World Cup.”