The mystery around Gurbaj Singh's removal from the India squad deepened on Thursday when the team's new coach Roelant Oltmans, who is also Hockey India's (HI) High Performance Director, said there is no charge of disharmony against the midfielder, which is in contrast to what Harbinder Singh-led Special Committee had mentioned in its report to HI.
"It's not correct," Oltmans reacted straight away after being asked why Gurbaj is being accused of groupism.
The HI Selection Committee on Wednesday dropped Gurbaj from the 21-member squad for the Europe tour, which came after the nine-member committee met to discuss India's performance at the FIH Hockey World League (HWL) semi-finals in Belgium.
The Committee declared that Paul van Ass is no longer India coach, while adding that Gurbaj has been reported for "misbehaviour and creating disharmony within the team."
When contacted by IBNLive, Harbinder said that the committee has been informed about Gurbaj's misbehaviour. However, ousted Van Ass had not submitted his tournament report before his unceremonious exit following a spat with HI President Narinder Batra in Belgium.
"Van Ass was not the only coach there. There were other members of the coaching staff [including assistant coaches Jude Felix and Sandeep Sangwan] who were with the team. I can't take any name but we have been told about Gurbaj's misbehaviour," the former Olympian said.
"And you know what happened at the 2012 Olympics," he added, pointing at the previous occasion when Gurbaj was reported for a similar offence under the then coach Michael Nobbs.
But Oltmans' reaction on Thursday must surprise the HI committee that had mentioned exactly opposite to what the Dutchman said.
"The fact that one player [Gurbaj] is not there [in the squad] has to do really nothing with disharmony in the team. I want to make this very, very clear," Oltmans told reporters at the press conference at RK Khanna Stadium here.
"You can ask these boys," Oltmans pointed at VR Raghunath and PR Sreejesh to his left and captain Sardar Singh sitting to his right. "There is absolutely no disharmony in the team. As I said before, for me the team is the most important thing. I am always looking very, very carefully," he said to conclude the press meet.
Interestingly, the team too seems to be standing with Gurbaj.
Goalkeeper Sreejesh, who is a senior member of the team, also refuted charges of disharmony on Gurbaj, saying that he has never had a problem with him.
"He is a fantastic player, one of the best in the team. As a co-player, I find nothing wrong in his behaviour," Sreejesh spoke to IBNLive over the phone from the fitness camp in Shilaroo that concluded on Tuesday.
"I can't comment on the charges against him; for that you should ask the committee or Hockey India," he said, adding that he can only speak as Gurbaj's team-mate.
"The whole team is standing with me, even the coach Roelant Oltmans who had a meeting with me and Sardar after returning from Delhi," Gurbaj said.
"Oltmans told me that he has no problem with me, it's the committee that has reported me and that I should have a meeting with the committee members or Hockey India to explain my stance. Even Sardar said during the meeting that he finds nothing wrong in my behaviour."
The team will leave for Europe in the early hours of Friday, but Gurbaj, who is feeling very uneasy after being reported, wants to sort this out with Hockey India.
"I will call up Hockey India soon to fix a meeting as I am not included in the squad," he said. "I am completely focused on representing my country at the Rio Olympics, and I am fully committed to play to the best of my ability," the disappointed midfielder said.
Comments
0 comment