After a marathon meeting of more than five hours, Hockey India decided enough was enough and slapped a two-year ban on star players Sardara Singh and Sandeep Singh.
Their fault – repeated counts of indiscipline and the most recent one was to leave the training camp and head for Delhi. Secretary General of Hockey India, Narinder Batra, said both the players have a right to appeal against the ban and have been given 30 days time to lodge their protest.
“Today, we had a meeting to discuss the issue of Sandeep and Sardar, who left the camp in Bangalore on August 23 without the permission of the coach. The issue was discussed in detail and the players were also given an opportunity to explain their position,” Batra told in a press conference.
“It’s the third time in six months they have repeated such an incidence. Enough is enough and we felt some action needs to be taken against them. So they have been banned for two years during which they can’t participate in HI and International Hockey Federation (FIH) events. It was an unanimous opinion.”
Both the players can appeal against the ban within 30 days and a five-member committee will be formed to hear their case.
Even recently, both Sandeep and Sardara have time and again violated discplinary code. In May, they were not considered for the Sultan Azlan Shah tournament after they did not report for the national camp and went to play in the Belgium league. During the camp, they went off to attend a World Series Hockey event and were promptly served a show-cause notice. But they apologized and were made a part of the camp.
“Today also they gave in writing a representation that they left the camp with the coach’s permission. But it was a pre-decided thing because their tickets were booked in the afternoon and they asked for permission only in the evening.”
“It is not something that happened all of a sudden. Sandeep said that his son was ill, and that his wife and parents were also not well within a span of 30 days. If they had family issues they should have said this before the selection trials.”
The meeting was also attended by HI disciplinary committee chairman Pargat Singh, selectors Balbir Singh, BP Govinda and AB Subbiah, players’ representative Mukesh Kumar and Rajneesh Mishra, government observer Harbinder Singh, head coach Michael Nobbs, assistant coaches SS Grewal, Mohd Riaz, Clarence Lobo and Jugraj Singh (coach), exercise physiologist David John and physio Srikant Iyengar.