Women’s team, last Beijing hockey hope, wait for paycheque

Women’s team, last Beijing hockey hope, wait for paycheque

Navneet Singh

Posted online: Friday, March 28, 2008 at 0026 hrs IST

New Delhi, March 27
At a time when Indian hockey’s Olympic hopes rest on the women’s team, players in the squad training in Lucknow for the qualifiers haven’t been getting their monthly pay-cheques.

They are slated to leave for Kazan, Russia, for their final qualifying tournament for the Beijing Games on April 9.

“I haven’t received any money since July 2007. Even yesterday, I went to the bank to see if any money had finally come in but there was nothing from the federation,” one of the players told The Indian Express, on the condition that she not be named for fear of action from the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF).

Both IWHF president Vidya Stokes and Treasurer M P Ganesh claimed there was no delay in payment.

However, the federation’s Secretary Amrit Bose, when contacted, confirmed to The Indian Express that payments had been suspended. “The money hasn’t been paid for the last four months, not ten months (since July as the player said)...But the money is given by sponsors, not by us. We are only a via media between the players and the sponsors. We haven’t paid for the last four months because the money was not given by the sponsors.”

The sponsors deny this. The federation entered into a four-year contract worth Rs 1 crore annually with City Limouzines (India) Pvt Limited, a Mumbai-based company that rents out luxury cars. Of this money, Rs 50 lakh was to be given to the IWHF for development of the game and the rest to be passed on to the players and coaches as salary. The IWHF short-listed 40 players, who were to be paid between Rs 4,000 and Rs, 15,000 per month on a graded system. Said Deepak Pathak, the Delhi representative for City Limouzines: “We have paid the money. We have all the records,” he said.

When asked if he had raised the issue with the IWHF, the team’s coach M K Kaushik said from Lucknow: “This is not the right time to talk about money. The team is preparing for the Olympics and we need to focus on that. We can discuss these off-field issues after the qualifying tournament is over.”

The women’s team, which last qualified for the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, are expected to face a stiff challenge for the last Beijing berth from United States. The Indian women have done fairly well over the last six years, winning the Asian Games bronze in 2006, the Asia Cup gold in 2004, the Afro-Asian Games gold in 2003, and their surprise victory in the 2002 Commonwealth Games had inspired Chak de! India. Characters of the film are based on some players who are still in the team, including captain Mamta Kharab.

The men’s hockey team failed to make it to the Olympics for the first time in 80 years when they lost to Britain in the final of their qualifying tournament in Chile earlier this month, leading to demands from hockey experts for a change in the way the sport is run.

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Women’s team, last Beijing hockey hope, wait for paycheque Navneet Singh Posted online: Friday, March 28, 2008 at 0026 hrs IST New Delhi, March 27 At a time when Indian hockey’s Olympic hopes rest on the women’s team, players in the squad training in Lucknow for the qualifiers haven’t been getting their monthly pay-cheques. They are slated to leave for Kazan, Russia, for their final qualifying tournament for the Beijing Games on April 9. “I haven’t received any money since July 2007. Even yesterday, I went to the bank to see if any money had finally come in but there was nothing from the federation,” one of the players told The Indian Express, on the condition that she not be named for fear of action from the Indian Women’s Hockey Federation (IWHF). Both IWHF president Vidya Stokes and Treasurer M P Ganesh claimed there was no delay in payment. However, the federation’s Secretary Amrit Bose, when contacted, confirmed to The Indian Express that payments had been suspended. “The money hasn’t been paid for the last four months, not ten months (since July as the player said)...But the money is given by sponsors, not by us. We are only a via media between the players and the sponsors. We haven’t paid for the last four months because the money was not given by the sponsors.” The sponsors deny this. The federation entered into a four-year contract worth Rs 1 crore annually with City Limouzines (India) Pvt Limited, a Mumbai-based company that rents out luxury cars. Of this money, Rs 50 lakh was to be given to the IWHF for development of the game and the rest to be passed on to the players and coaches as salary. The IWHF short-listed 40 players, who were to be paid between Rs 4,000 and Rs, 15,000 per month on a graded system. Said Deepak Pathak, the Delhi representative for City Limouzines: “We have paid the money. We have all the records,” he said. When asked if he had raised the issue with the IWHF, the team’s coach M K Kaushik said from Lucknow: “This is not the right time to talk about money. The team is preparing for the Olympics and we need to focus on that. We can discuss these off-field issues after the qualifying tournament is over.” The women’s team, which last qualified for the Olympics in Moscow in 1980, are expected to face a stiff challenge for the last Beijing berth from United States. The Indian women have done fairly well over the last six years, winning the Asian Games bronze in 2006, the Asia Cup gold in 2004, the Afro-Asian Games gold in 2003, and their surprise victory in the 2002 Commonwealth Games had inspired Chak de! India. Characters of the film are based on some players who are still in the team, including captain Mamta Kharab. The men’s hockey team failed to make it to the Olympics for the first time in 80 years when they lost to Britain in the final of their qualifying tournament in Chile earlier this month, leading to demands from hockey experts for a change in the way the sport is run.