Confusion over, hockey camp from Tuesday

The confusion over the men's Olympic preparatory hockey camp ended with the sports ministry giving the green signal to its commencement in Bangalore.

The confusion over the men's Olympic preparatory hockey camp ended with the sports ministry giving the green signal to its commencement in Bangalore.

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In a meeting on Monday evening between officials of the ministry and Hockey India (HI), it was agreed that the camp for the 30 probables would start from Tuesday. The 18 players, who were members of the victorious team that won the Olympic Qualifiers, would join the camp from March 15.

The delay, said an official of the ministry, was due to the two proposals submitted by the federation. "We were not averse to sanctioning the camp, but there has to be some logic when the dates are changed," he said.

On February 10, before the start of Olympic Qualifiers, HI had sent a proposal to start the next phase of the camp from March 15 at Bangalore. It was approved by the steering committee of the ministry.

But after the team got the ticket to the London Games, HI submitted a fresh proposal to the ministry asking to sanction the camp from March 5.

The change in dates added to the confusion.

Interestingly, chief coach Michael Nobbs too had emphasised on 15 days of active rest before the next phase of the camp.