Short-sighted planning for Indian hockey

But will a short tenure really benefit the players? Even Gill is not able to answer it with a firm ‘yes.’ For, the IHF chief himself admits that the European coaches do not have a great record in Asia.

If that is the case, how is it going to help Indian hockey? Former Indian captain Ashok Kumar feels that the IHF should decide what they want. ‘‘What is the purpose of bringing a foreign coach for a short period? Either we decide to restructure our entire system with his help or let us support our present coach Rajinder Singh. After all, the team is not doing badly under him,’’ he said.

He has a valid point. After all, having two ‘wise’ heads is bound to create confusion and conflict of interests. Said a player: ‘‘If we have both the foreign coach and Rajinder then we are heading for trouble. As it is Rajinder’s deputy NS Sodhi runs the show and things will complicate more once the foreign coach joins.’’ In the past, the IHF had talked about hiring a foreign coach, though only on paper. In fact, several foreign coaches, including Germany’s Paul Lissek and Horst Wein had evinced their interest in the job. Gill said no one has contacted him since his announcement three days ago.

Meanwhile, the German-based Horst told The Indian Express that he was interested in the job. The FIH master coach said, ‘‘My philosophy is to save Indian hockey and prepare them to play an effective hockey than an attractive one.’’ He, however, added that ‘‘employing one coach from a European country to train a bunch of 30 Indians is not the correct way to progress.’’

He was of the view that a foreign coach should influence all top teams in India — women and men included. However, Gill is not convinced about it. ‘‘The European nations are smaller in size and it’s okay for them to have a particular model. But we are almost like a continent and hockey is played in different styles all over here. I do not encourage the idea of moulding our different styles into one casket.’’

Whatever may be the case, the IHF will not be able to decide on the issue until it gets the fund from the International Olympic Committee’s solidarity scheme. Whether an avid India supporter like Horst Wein takes over or someone else does, the eight-time Olympic champions remain the only country not to engage the service of a foreign coach to date. But the issue should hot up when the money changes hands.