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Indervir Grewal
Tribune News Service
Bhubaneswar, December 12
Before any big match, players expect words of encouragement from all quarters. Coaches give pep talk, while fans and officials wish them luck. But the words that were spoken to India captain Manpreet Singh on Tuesday evening, two days before their quarterfinal against the Netherlands, were nowhere close to being encouraging.
“Get out from here. How dare you come in here. Now just shut up and get out!” These are not the words one would use against the Indian captain, that too in a room full of people, including former international players.
But on Tuesday, during the cross-over matches, Manpreet and a few other Indian players were, it is learnt, rudely told to leave the VIP lounge by Hockey India CEO Elena Norman. While the players left the area, the people around were “shocked to hear her abuse and berate the Indian captain”.
An eyewitness, Leo Devadoss, described the incident in a Facebook post on Tuesday night. “I was witness to a rather nasty episode this evening,” wrote Devadoss, who is a hockey coach and freelance writer according to his Facebook page.
“I was in the sponsors (VIP) lounge. All of a sudden, the CEO of Hockey India walked past us. She looked agitated and walked towards a few Indian players, including Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh and Krishan Pathak. We were shocked to hear her abuse and berate the Indian captain using words like 'shut up and get out',” the post read.
It further read that after “chasing the players out”, the CEO targeted an official there for letting the players in, “using a lot of foul language”. “There were so many former players, former Olympians present there,” the post read.
A former India player confirmed the incident, saying that it was “shocking”. Apparently, Hockey India wanted the Facebook post to be removed, but to no avail.
'Our mistake'
On Wednesday, Manpreet dismissed the incident. “It was our mistake. Players were not allowed in the lounge. All teams are not allowed,” Manpreet said. “We went there, it was our mistake. It was not a big thing, I did not remember it in the first place this morning. So, you should say only what happened. There is no pressure on me to say what I am saying. It was our mistake. Nobody told us to say this,” he added.
Manpreet added that he had “no personal issue with Elena”. “She is my colleague, we have good relations,” he said.
Eyewitness account
I was in the sponsors (VIP) lounge. All of a sudden, the CEO of Hockey India walked past us. She looked agitated and walked towards a few Indian players, including Manpreet Singh, Mandeep Singh, Gurjant Singh and Krishan Pathak.
We were shocked to hear her abuse and berate the Indian captain using words like ‘shut up’ and 'get out'
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