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Former Olympian blasts women's hockey body

Women's hockey team chief coach Balbir Singh announced his decision to quit his post with immediate effect.

"The players are not being well treated or well paid, I tried to help them but was frustrated in my attempts," said the former Olympian. "I have decided to quit because the Women's Hockey Federation is not prepared to listen to my pleas that players should be given their dues," he said.

Regarding the criticism that the Indian women's team finished last (12th) in the Utrecht World Cup, the coach shot back, "We did not finish last, I brought them to the 12th place in the world."

Balbir was unhappy with the way the IWHF treated him. "I lost my rank for the sake of women's hockey and this is the way they have treated me," he complained. "I was to pick up my rank of brigadier before July 31, 1997. At that time, the then Minister of State for Defence, late N V Somu, had given me an extension of three months to take up the rank but because of my involvement in women's hockey I had to go to Harare on July 24. So I could not be present to pick up my rank, and thus lost out on my opportunity."

But what upsets Balbir even more, apparently, is the way players were being paid. "They don't get any pocket allowances while playing abroad, they only get meal allowance. In Harare, I managed to save money from their meal allowance, and later distributed it equally among the players. This obviously was not liked by the IWHF officials who wanted the money back, though it belonged to the players."

Colonel Balbir Singh said that for the tour of South Africa, "I was given specific instructions that in case any meal money is saved, it should be returned to the IWHF. I suspected that somebody wanted to siphon off this player's money, and i refused to bow to their directive.

"During the World Cup," said an obviously incensed Balbir, "the players did not get their due money, which upset me a lot. Also, the IWHF officials did not like the way I handled the players and the team," he added.

After the World Cup, Balbir had to stay back in England due to some family commitments. "On my return I was surprised to find reports in the press that the government was not happy with the women team's performance at Utrecht," Balbir said.

''It is very amusing -- the Indian women's team had no standing in the world before I took over. I prepared them to qualify for the World Cup and, among over 100 teams in the world that play hockey, I brought India to 12th place, and that is no mean achievement.

''Anyway," he added, "the World Cup was not the priority. My brief was to prepare the team for the Bangkok Asian Games and that is what I was doing."

''I was very happy with the team, the players gave their best and the 12th placing in the Utrecht is no reflection on their talent, and this was agreed by several coaches during the world cup,'' he said, adding ''I wish the Indian team all the best for future events''.

Balbir said he actually wanted to quit after the World Cup. "My decision was hastened by the payment issue. The federation never liked the fact that I gave the players their money back. I had this constant argument with the officials that what was meant for the players should go to them''he said.

''That's the one reason they wanted me out -- because I was not fitting into their scheme of things," Balbir said. "I saw through that, and decided to put in my papers.''