Former Indian Hockey team coach Sjoerd Marijne faces a troubling situation after Hockey India said that they intend to take the Dutchman to Court over the accusations he had levelled against Indian field hockey team captain Manpreet Singh.
Marijne, who has a book release lined up, accused Manpreet Singh of asking the team’s young players to underperform on purpose so that his mates could get into the team.
The accusation against the captain of the Indian team irked the sporting body which said that the Dutchman had levelled such claims in order to publicise his book.
The 48-year-old’s upcoming release titled ‘Will Power – The Inside Story of the Incredible Turnaround in Indian Women’s Hockey’ has come under harsh criticism from the authorities, who did not take kindly to his words about Manpreet Singh.
Following this, the Indian men’s team and women’s team issued a statement that read “We have come together to state our deep disappointment in his (Marijne’s) exploitation of our personal information and false accusations. He has used his time coaching us for commercial gain to sell his book at the cost of our reputations. This is a complete breach of trust and his duty of care as a coach. It also leads to all Indian athletes like us feeling vulnerable in such situations".
Hockey Indian went on to state that no such instances were reported or notified to the administrative body for the sport in India or the Sports Authority of India.
“We would like to collectively question Mr Sjoerd Marijne, that if any of the claimed incidents took place under his watch there should be a record of an allegation filed to Hockey India or the Sports Authority of India at the time. On checking with the authorities, we have found no such record of the complaint," HI said.
The Indian sporting body further said that they would seek to pursue legal action against Marijne and the publishing house.
“We are in the process of pursuing legal remedies against Mr Sjoerd Marijne and the publishers of the book in question, Harper Collins."
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