India's hockey coach Paul van Ass to be axed

India’s hockey coach Paul van Ass is all set to be formally sacked following his bitter public spat with Hockey India (HI) president Narinder Batra after a special committee on Friday recommended his removal from the post.

The nine-member committee headed by Olympian Harbinder Singh, formed to decide on his future, has recommended that Van Ass, who had claimed that he has been fired following his altercation with Batra, should not continue as a coach.

As per the procedure, it is now for HI to make a formal announcement about the Dutchman’s future with Indian hockey. A top Hockey India official said president Batra will have discussions with High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans and Sports Authority of India (SAI) officials in the next couple of days before formally announcing Van Ass’ ouster.Van Ass, on his part, blamed an “autocratic” Batra for his ouster and said the recommendation to remove him did not come as a “surprise” to him.

“I knew the decision already. I am not surprised. He (Batra) was just finding ways to fire me and he did it. He should apologise for it (tarnishing my reputation),” Van Ass told PTI from his home in Rotterdam.”I won’t call him a dictator but he is an autocratic person. How can he single-handedly take all the decisions? How can he single-handedly fire me to please his ego?,” he said.

The development leaves India without a coach with barely a year to go for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics for which the team has already qualified.