Sports ministry not keen on foreign hockey coach

NEW DELHI: After bitter experiences with Ric Charlesworth and Jose Brasa, the sports ministry is not keen on a foreign coach for the national hockey team and if one is needed, a decision will be taken after next month's Azlan Shah tournament.

Joint secretary (sports) Injeti Srinivas said Friday that after the trials for the Azlan Shah tournament, scheduled next week, they would discuss the matter with former captain Dhanraj Pillay, who is a government nominee in the Hockey India (HI) selection panel, and national coach Harendra Singh.

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"We had some bitter experiences with Charlesworth and Brasa. It is difficult to say who is to be blamed, but now we don't want to have a foreign coach just for the sake of having one. After the selection trials we will sit down with Dhanraj and national coach Harendra Singh to discuss if we really need a foreign coach," said Injeti.

"We have to see whether we need a specialist coach. We have to be sure about the hierarchy," he said.

Asked why Harendra was selected as a national coach since he resigned from the post taking moral responsibility for the loss in the Asian Games, Injeti said: "That is not in our hands. He was backed by Hockey India (HI) and out of the 20-25 applicants, we found he was the best suited for the job."