No government interference in team selection, says Bharati

New Delhi, March 9: The government today denied it interfered in any way in the selection of players for national or international championships as the sports bodies concerned were fully autonomous.

Youth affairs and sports minister Uma Bharati told the Lok Sabha in a written reply today that the Indian Hockey Federation had denied it eliminated six players of the Asiad gold medal winning team.

She said the Federation had clarified that these players were being rested with a view to giving younger players a chance to have enough exposure and for preparing a strong team for Olympics 2000 at Sydney.

The coach had been changed as the new coach V Bhaskaran has had interaction with the younger players for some time and could get the best out of them.