|
A heartbroken hockey fraternity has reacted with anger and demanded the ouster of Indian Hockey Federation President, K P S Gill who has headed the organization since 1994 with an iron fist. However, Gill remains defiant.
Under the reign of the former cop Indian hockey has had virtually nothing to celebrate — except victory at the 1998 Bangkok Asian Games. Some say he is a tyrant, but Gill remains unapologetic.
Even after the latest debacle Gill said: "I will respond to these things at a later stage. We have put the process in place and the results will take some time. It is not proper to respond at this stage. We will wait for the team to return first, then we will have a clear idea what went wrong."
Gill shadowboxed with the media all day refusing to speak on camera even as all hell broke loose around him.
The Indian Hockey Federation — already badly split — simply fell apart with its Senior Vice-President Narendra Batra quitting. However, Batra fired a salvo at a boss he has openly detested for years.
"Gill does not take calls for three to four days in a row. He doesn't take the sport seriously," said Batra.
Former players too have been calling for Gill's head for a long time now, and the voices simply grew louder after Monday's humiliating defeat.
Hockey player Pargat Singh said that Gill should quit. "It is something which is long overdue."
Another former player, Ashok Kumar added that the Indian Hockey Federation was responsible for the defeat of the team on Monday.
In his time as President, Gill has tried to launch projects such as the ambitious Indian Hockey League — which has met with lukewarm success. However, it seems that this time around, there is no time left for the man to perform any more heroics.