Hyderabad: Indian hockey takes yet another beating. This time, coach Terry Walsh has quit and quit for sure. Earlier, he’d announced that he would resign, but he reconsidered his decision and decided to stay back.
On Tuesday, the allegations made against him are serious – Hockey India President Narinder Batra claimed that there were financial irregularities during his stint as the US women’s hockey team.
With the Champions Trophy scheduled for next month, things couldn’t have been worse-timed. Walsh had quit a few days back, but resumed duties laying a few conditions that he wanted to be fulfilled – that most of the decision making power would be with him, that he would be given selected people to be a part of his team and that he would be allowed to spend more time with his family.
However, today, amidst allegations and dissatisfaction, Walsh has left the team in a sticky, sticky soup. With no head coach to spearhead them into the Champions Trophy, their best possible chances would now look like an utter waste.
The question is why raise these allegations now. As per Narinder Batra, Walsh was involved in a $1,76,000 fund scam when he was working with USA hockey.
Batra added that working with someone who came with this kind of a reputation would cause a dearth of trust, which in turn, would help no one. Point sold, Batra, but then, why now? Wasn’t a background check conducted when Walsh was appointed as the team’s coach? If yes, why didn’t these major points surface back then? What was the motive behind bringing it up when Walsh had placed his demands and was willing to reconsider his decision of quitting?
However, Walsh was all game for clarifying the issue raised by Batra. But then, he too was left wondering why now.
Overall, if Batra had an issue, it should have been raised right in the beginning instead of waiting for Walsh to tender his resignation. The timing makes this look like a childish comeback from Hockey India’s side, which was blasted left, right and centre by Walsh when he resigned.
No matter whoever is at fault, it is Indian hockey that’s going to suffer and stutter like a boat without a sail, that too, at a very critical juncture.