New Delhi: Two senior volleyball players have quit India’s national camp in protest over removal of head coach, inadequate training facilities in Ahmedabad and questionable team selection.
Libero Anand K and middle-blocker John Joseph had expressed concerns to Indian Olympic Association over quality of coaches once foreign coach Dragan Mihailovic was asked to leave.
They had also sough better facilities at Sports Authority of India (SAI) centre in Ahmedabad comparing it to far improved infrastructure in Bengaluru.
“… the current Ahmedabad camp is lacking significantly in multiple aspects, making it difficult to meet international standards,” Anand wrote in one of his mails, as quoted by PTI.
Anand claimed the Volleyball Federation of India asked them to apologise for writing “seven to eight e-mails” but they refused and left the camp in Ahmedabad on Sunday despite facing an “imminent risk of a ban by the VFI”.
“There was a meeting with coaches and we were asked to apologise and continue in the camp but we refused. They needed us to stay because otherwise it would have and has become an issue. VFI will not allow us play. They will ban us.”
‘Politics’
“It’s going to be terrible for our careers but the fact is we shouldn’t have to play like this. There is no analysis, no recovery, the coaches don’t know anything, they are living in the 1950s,” Anand told PTI.
“The one who was making a difference (Dragan Mihailovic of Serbia) has been removed for no clear reason. We were an unranked team but last year at the Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) tournament in Uzbekistan, we finished runners-up.
“We need to improve, every country is developing but we are going down by doing things like this. Everyone in the camp feels the same but they are unwilling to speak like John and I.”
“I stand by the complaints,” Joseph told PTI with Anand adding that the team has been filled with “undeserving players”.
An anonymous VFI official denied accusations of coercion, insisting “there is lot of politics going on right now” to PTI.
VFI’s day-to-day operations are currently managed by a steering committee comprising officials from IOA and the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB).
India are currently preparing for the Asian Volleyball Confederation Men’s Cup from June 20 to 28 in Ahmedabad where it would be among 12 countries to participate.