New Delhi: Indian men’s hockey team chief coach Paul van Ass on Monday was fired from his position by Hockey India following his alleged public altercation with federation President Narinder Batra.
“As far I know I was fired one week after the Hockey World League semi-finals in Antwerp, Belgium. Roelant Oltmans (High Performance Director) was asked to replace me,” Van Ass said from The Netherlands.
“I have been told on January 13 that Dr Batra doesn’t want me to be the coach any more. Roelant called me and informed me about this,” he said.
“I am yet to get official confirmation but I expect it to get it by the end of this week. That is precisely the reason why I didn’t turn up for the camp,” the Dutchman said.
Van Ass’s future with the Indian team was in serious doubt after he failed to report on time for the national team’s camp at the Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Shilaroo, Himachal Pradesh on Sunday.
The theory that the Dutchman won’t be continuing as the coach gathered further steam when he failed to submit his report on India’s performance at the recently concluded World Hockey League semi-finals in Antwerp, Belgium.
According to media reports, Van Ass had a public spat with HI president Narinder Batra after the quarter-final match against Malaysia at the World League semi-finals.
Asked Van Ass about the possible reason behind his unceremonious ouster, he said: “There is no reason, they will find a reason now.”
Van Ass confirmed that the public spat with Batra during the World League semi-finals was the main reason for his ouster.
“After our win over Malaysia Dr Batra came on the pitch and spoke to players in Hindi. I thought he was commending the players but instead it turned out he was criticising the players,” he said.
“Then I jumped and because pitch is my area and I need to protect my players. Also I felt we played quite well in that match and won it.â€