Barely days after quitting from his position as chief coach of the national men’s hockey team, Terry Walsh expressed his willingness to return to India provided Hockey India (HI) shows some “desire” to work out a “viable solution”.
Walsh admitted that he has indeed written a letter to the Sports Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, expressing his desire to resume his India job but said the ball entirely is now in the national federation’s court.
“A letter from my side was sent to the Minister yesterday indicating my desire to return to India to finalize negotiations and work through to Rio, 2016,” Walsh said.
“Now it’s in the hands of HI to show the same desire for a viable solution.” Walsh had resigned as the chief coach soon after returning from Incheon, where he guided the Indian team to its first Asiad gold in 16 years.
The Australian’s notice period ended last Wednesday and he decided not to withdraw his resignation after his contractual talks with SAI and HI fell apart. Walsh’s contractual talks collapsed after HI president Narinder Batra had alleged that the 60-year-old Australian had indulged in “financial fraud” during his stint with USA Hockey.
Walsh however termed these allegations “baseless”. The differences with HI seems to be the biggest hurdle that stands in the way of Walsh’s return.