It was the last thing the players would have expected ahead of a crucial quarterfinal encounter against three-time champions Netherlands. On Tuesday morning, an eye witness made public a nasty public rebuke by Hockey India CEO Elena Norman of team India players, who had mistakenly entered the sponsor lounge of the Government of Odisha.
According to those who were present there, as soon as Norman saw the players, which included captain Manpreet Singh, Gurjant Singh, Mandeep Singh and Krishan Pathak, she berated them saying, “Get out from here. How dare you come here? Now just shut up and get out.” According to the an eyewitness who posed about the incident on Facebook, there were many Arjuna Awardees and former Olympians present when the incident took place.
As the post went viral and Norman, an Australian, was accused of racist behaviour, Hockey India officials stated that they had no knowledge of the incident.
When asked about the incident, Skipper Manpreet Singh played it down saying, "It was our mistake. Players were not allowed in the lounge....It is not a big thing, I did not remember it in the first place this morning. So you should say only what happened.” When pressed further on whether he was being pressured to downplay the incident, he added, “There is no pressure on me to say what I am saying. I have no personal issue with Elena. If I had my phone, I would have shown you. It has been made into an issue. She is my colleague, we have good relations.”
Coach Harendra Singh put up a stoic face and urged his players to focus on the important match tomorrow. “I had given one chart on the very first day. I drew a circle and told them concentrate only on things inside the circle, forget the things outside,” he said.
