MHA bars hockey players from practising at its ground

Ignoring a letter from Maharashtra's Deputy Director of Sports, the Mumbai Hockey Association today refused to allow 50 hockey players of the state to practise at its ground as after they failed to submit their details with the MHA.

"We have given them in writing that we are ready to give the ground but the only thing is that we want the details about the players. We are saying we want to follow certain procedures so that the ground is taken care of properly," MHA secretary Ram Singh Rathor told PTI.

"We got a letter from N B Mote, the Deputy Director of Sports in Maharashtra that a few players from Mumbai team wanted the ground for practice. They wanted to participate in ahead of Indian Hockey Federation's National Championship that was to be held from March 15. So we gave them official permission but requested them to provide the names of the players and the officials.

"We don't know anything about the team. We don't know the manager or the coach. If someone else comes instead of them and if the pitch is damaged then who will be responsible for that? We need some record to know who will be coming," he said.
The players had contacted Maharshtra's Deputy Director of Sports, asking him for a ground to practice before the IHF Nationals.

"They say the event was postponed but we had no official communication from IHF or Karnataka Hockey Association stating that the National tournament which was supposed to be held from March 15 is postponed," Rathor said.

"The competition has been lingering on since May 2012. It is happening since 2012 and getting postponed each time. Even this time if it is postponed then there should have been some official communication," he added.