Bhubaneswar: Former India hockey captain Sardar Singh Saturday claimed that former coach Sjoerd Marijne and current high performance director David John forced him to retire from international circuit which sent shock waves throughout the hockey fraternity worldwide.
Speaking at the concluding day of the Ekamra Sports Literary Festival here, Sardar also revealed that currently noted sports writer Sundeep Misra is in the process of writing his biography.
The celebrated star, while interacting with the audience, threw light on a few recent incidents that eventually led to his international retirement. The veteran singled out an incident which took place last year during India’s triumphant campaign in the Asia Cup in Dhaka, where he was called to John’s room in the presence of Marijne.
“Earlier, he appreciated my performance and asked me to play as freeman in the Asia Cup. I was called to his (David John’s) room just before the match against Pakistan in Asia Cup. The coach (Marijne) was also there. He (John) said I committed mistakes and I was playing a lot of individual game. Just before an important match I was called to tell this. You could imagine how I was feeling, he could have told me later,” the star midfielder claimed.
After the Asian Games, Sardar was not named among the probables for the Asian Champions Trophy in Oman, forcing him to think about his future. “I was dropped from important tournaments, the World Hockey League and CWG. I thought I will be brought back, I was sent with a junior team in Malaysia.
“I slowly began questioning myself what is going on. After Asian Games, I was thinking of continuing till the 2020 Olympics. I was very fit, one of the fittest in the team. But after returning home I discussed the issue with my family members I decided to quit (after being dropped again),” said Sardar.
The former hockey international said that he was sad when he discovered some negative articles about him in the media. “I tried to avoid being affected by such articles and even became inactive on the social media. “However, they hurt me,” he said.
The hockey star also said that the book on him would discuss a number of issues relating to the different facets of his life. “The book will cover the struggles I overcame during my career. However, many sportspersons go through such struggles as most of them come from middle class and lesser privileged backgrounds like me. The book will reveal much about me, including why I quit international hockey,” he signed off.