IHF tightlipped on National camps

NEW DELHI, April 21: The Indian Hockey Federation has once again shown that it does not believe in transparency. After adding nine more p...

NEW DELHI, April 21: The Indian Hockey Federation has once again shown that it does not believe in transparency. After adding nine more probables to the 73 selected during the March Nationals in Hyderabad, for the Sydney Games, the Federation has split them into eight camps but has refused to mention who these nine players are.

The camps began at seven centres Delhi, Chandigarh, Patiala, Amritsar, Hyderabad, Rampur (Uttar Pradesh) and Bangalore (including a camp for the goal-keepers) simultaneously on April 15, after the lists of players and coaches were approved by president KPS Gill. However, the federation officials have been silent on the nine additions and the names of coaches attached to each camp.

When contacted by The Indian Express, the IHF executive manager RA Subramanian confirmed that eight camps were on, but said that he was “unable to provide the lists as they had not been officially released by the IHF president and the secretary.”

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When Gill was asked about the list of probablesand the chief coach he said on Tuesday that “the chief coach would be decided at the end of the month and that the camps will go on till April 30.” However, there was no mention of the number of camps and the progress being made there.

IHF’s silence over the issue does not come as a surprise as the Chandigarh camp, being held under coach Satinder Singh, had just two players reporting on the first day. According to Subramanian, “some details regarding the Bangalore camp have yet to reach Delhi, hence the delay in releasing the lists”.

It was also learnt that the IHF has decided to club together the eight groups into two lots of 40 players each at the end of the month. They will undergo training at two centres, Bangalore and Patiala, under a panel of coaches to be announced soon. The current division into eight different camps has been done apparently to provide “individual attention” to every player.

While choosing the players and the coaches, and dividing them into several groups is theprerogative of the IHF, it is also its duty to inform the public about these decisions. By keeping mum on the issue, the federation obviously gives the impression that it has something to hide.