Midfielder Gurbaj Singh was on Monday handed a severe nine-month ban for “misbehavior and creating disharmony” by a special committee appointed by the Hockey India.
At the headquarters of the national body in the capital, the special committee headed by Olympian Harbinder Singh handed down the punishment to Gurbaj, who has more than 200 caps to his name.
This will be a mighty blow to India’s chances at next years’ Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. However, Harbinder claims discipline and team comes much before an individual does.
“A player can be really good but he can do much harm to the team with his poor discipline. And a player can be decent but his team building can be really helpful,” said the 1964 Tokyo Olympics gold medallist.
However, it is not the end for Gurbaj as the committee has allowed him a period of 30 days to appeal. An option he will take. “I gave my version of events to the committee and they have given me 30 days to appeal. And I will appeal to make things clear,” 27-year-old Firozpur lad told The Pioneer.
The committee members took into consideration the report of former India coach Jude Felix that he submitted to the HI after the Hockey World league semi-finals in Antwerp, Belgium.
They also revisited Gurbaj’s previous infraction in 2012 after a complaint by Olympic Scientific Advisors. Then, Gurbaj had to sit out from all hockey activities until he formally apologised and stated he wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
Harbinder Singh said that the severity of the punishment is due to a repeat offence. “He gave assurance in the past but again we have the same issue. There was no reform and the attitude stayed the same. So, we unanimously decided to ban him.”
With his ban starting immediately until 9 May, 2016, Gurbaj’s chances of getting a seat in the flight headed to Rio look slim to none.
Before leaving for the on-going European Tour to face France and Spain, new India coach Roelant Oltmans, captain Sardar Singh and goalkeeper PR Sreejesh clarified that they had no problems with Gurbaj or his attitude but Harbinder said his omission from the squad is only due to his indiscipline.
“Oltmans was aware of the impending indiscipline charges against him and he decided to keep him out of the travelling squad. Gurbaj has the tendency to respect the coach only. But he doesn’t respect the support staff and other junior members. Additionally, he refused to play in certain positions when asked to do so by the coach which caused rift with Michael Nobbs (in 2012) and now too. Plus, he would speak rudely with members of the team and create groupism,” Harbinder added.
However, Gurbaj questioned the decision in light of the support from the team and coach too. “That’s the odd part. I have been supported by the team members and the coach, yet the committee decided to place the ban on me.”
He mentioned that this won’t be the end of his career even if the appeal doesn’t go his way. “Yes the ban includes all official competitions but I can still play practice matches. I will continue to work and my focus will remain on my hockey,” he added.