Indian Hockey pair banned for two years for disciplinary reasons – Hockey News
In an unrivalled move, Hockey India, the supreme authority of Hockey in India has banned Sardara Singh and Sandeep Singh, the two key players of the national squad for two years from the international events over disciplinary reasons.
It is vital to mention here that the two veteran players left the camp citing personal reasons without taking their seniors into the confidence. Some media reports claimed that they took the stance due to mistreatment by newly appointed coach Michael Nobbs.
The incident occurred only two days before when the national squad was fixed to leave for China to take part in the first edition of the Asian Champions Trophy.
Secretary General Hockey India Narinder Batra while briefing the media stated that the decision was taken to give a strong message to all the sportsmen to follow the rules. He further stated that this high action will be a precedent for the juniors. He stated,
“Those who are associated with HI decided it was high time action was taken; otherwise juniors would also have learnt to become undisciplined. This is the third time they have done this and some strict action was necessary. We hope better sense will prevail
because no player is above the game.”
It is worth mentioning here that the two hockey pros have had the right to challenge the decisions within seventy-two hours. In case of appeal, a special panel comprised of one member from each from Athletics’ Representatives, Indian Olympic Association
(IOA) and Sports Authority of India (SAI). Interestingly, the two players skipped the camp a third time without informing the officials.
Earlier, the two defenders Sardara Singh and Sandeep Singh opted to partake in the Belgium Hockey League instead of contesting the Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament. In the second move, they along with three others including Adrian D’Souza, Arjun Halappa and
Prabhjot Singh missed the camp to participate in the media-launching ceremony of World Series Hockey (WSH) – a joint venture of Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and Nimbus Communication.
HI Secretary made it clear that the two players would not permit to partake in the tournaments organised by the Hockey India; however, they would be completely free to contest foreign leagues and WSH.
As per some media reports, Sandeep Singh and Sardara Singh failed to impress the committee by the logic they presented in defence of leaving the camp. The duo was of the view that they left the camp after taking Chief Coach Michael Nobbs in the confidence.
The reports added that the permission was not granted due to little remaining time for the flight for China.
It is important to note that Vikas Sharma and V. Raghunath will fill the spaces of Sardara Singh and Sandeep Singh.
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