Hockey India denies claims of former Indian Women’s Hockey team head coach Sjoerd Marijne regarding pending salary

Indian Hockey’s governing body has denied charges raised by former Indian Women’s team head coach Sjoerd Marijne. The Dutchman has revealed that he is yet to get his final salary and the cash prized promised by the Uttar Pradesh government after the women’s team’s fantastic performance at the Tokyo Olympics.

However, Hockey India has denied all the claims and termed the claims as a “malicious attempt to paint a dark picture of Indian sports administration.” They feel that it is Marijne’s attempt to defame the hockey apex body in India. However, they agreed that payment of around 1800 USD is due for the Dutchman from their side.

“We are extremely disappointed that despite having the opportunity to have an extremely lucrative job here in India provided by the Sports Authority of India, this is the kind of a response we observe after completion of his tenure. As far as we understand, Sjoerd Marijne has been paid his salary till August 7, 2021, and is owed only a balance amount of USD 1800,” the statement read.

Instead, Hockey India came up with charges of their own as they claimed that Marijne ran away without returning their laptop and did not report after the Tokyo Olympics this year. Hence the Sports Authority of India has not been able to give him the NOC and has also retained the 1800USD.

They are charging the Dutchman with data theft as he has not left the laptop that has valuable information regarding Indian Hockey. Speaking on the matter, Rajinder Singh, Secretary General, Hockey India said, “The Indian sports ecosystem and us at Hockey India as well, hold the athlete at the highest regard. Any prize money or performance incentive is prioritised for them and rightly so. The payment of any such prize money is given at the discretion of the State and corporate. A coach, receiving a salary for a specific job cannot hold himself in the same light and demand this.”

Rajinder criticized Marijne and termed him as European who come to India in search of lucrative jobs and defame the parent body once they leave the organization.

It will be interesting to see where this problem ends as both parties are coming up with new claims every second day.