Indian Women’s Hockey Team Rocked by s*x Scandal
The Indian Women’s hockey team has not been having a few good years. In 2009, the team’s sponsor, City Limouzines (India) Ltd., was tarnished by serious fraud allegations, money laundering and corruption charges. Then in early 2010, the team protested over not having receiving their salaries for the last few months. The latest scandal to hit the team is the fact that the team’s coach has been accused of sexually harassing several women players. It seems the women’s hockey team will have to be seriously overhauled, and the allegations will have to be seriously addressed, in order for hockey to get back on track in India.
Hockey came to India with the British. They introduced the game to the subcontinent and it then took off. The popularity of the game increased over the years, and soon it needed to be organised into a proper format. It was around this time that hockey was established as the national game of India. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) was set up in 1924 and brought some sort of structure and a set format to the game on an international scale. The International Federation of Women’s Hockey was established in 1927, three years after the birth of the men’s organisation. The women’s team really took off fairly recently when the team won gold in three consecutive competitions; the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the 2003 Afro-Asian Games and the 2004 Hockey Asia Cup. Women’s hockey had finally found a place of its own.
Soon though, scandals started to rock the women’s team. First, through no fault of their own, their sponsor was found to be involved in some extremely illegal activities. The company that sponsored the women’s team in 2009 was called City Limouzines, and the owner of the company ran a highly lucrative illegal scam involving limos. He and the company were accused of giving out fraudulent cheques, theft, money laundering and corruption. The scandal was very hard on the team and even though they were not at fault in the slightest, it was still painful for them to be attached to such a dodgy company.
In the early part of 2010, the women’s team protested over non-payment of their dues. What happened was that Hockey India (HI) had promised the women’s team a certain amount of money for every tournament they played in, but then they retracted their statement saying that they would only pay out money for a podium finish in a tournament. The women’s team protested but decided to do it silently by sporting black arm bands at every game they played. The issue was resolved after HI decided to release payments to the players for their achievements. This episode was a worrying sign for the game of hockey in the country, because spectators got to see a side of the country’s federation that did not seem to be supporting the players of the country’s national sport.
The most recent and most damaging scandal to hit the women’s team involved the team’s coach and allegations of sexual harassment. The story is a sordid one, because the coach of the women’s team, Maharaj Kishan Kaushik, was alleged to have sexually harassed various players on the team. He has stepped down from his post after the allegations struck, but claims his innocence in the affair. The allegations were levelled on the coach through an anonymous letter sent to HI. A committee was formed to follow up on the allegations and they were also investigating alleged footage taken by the team’s videographer who filmed various players in compromising positions. The videographer has since been let go Ganguly. This seedy affair has turned the entire team, the women’s hockey governing body and Hockey India upside down. All this has also taken place right before the upcoming Asia Cup and the team’s presence at the Cup looks uncertain. The Times of India released excerpts of the letter, which said: ‘Mr. Kaushik asks for sexual favours from the junior girls and passes lewd comments by calling them to his room on the pretext of 'game meeting'. The girls, all coming from poor and humble background are too scared to speak against the coach. A couple of years back, the coach also had adulterous relations with a lady member of the coaching staff. They together spoiled the whole atmosphere of the camp. The camp became a means for their illicit deeds."
Hopefully, the Indian women’s hockey team can sort all of its problems out and once again become the championship winning team it once was. Until then though, a cleanup operation needs to be implemented to rid all of the allegations, the seediness and the corrupt elements from the team. This needs to be done so the team can go back to playing proper hockey and winning championships once again.
Tags: