Terry Walsh's return as head coach of the Indian hockey team seems highly unlikely now.
A day after the Australian wrote a letter to sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal expressing his willingness to return to India immediately after he resigned and flew back to Australia on November 19, Hockey India (HI) CEO Elena Norman said they will discuss the appointment of a new chief coach after the upcoming Champions Trophy.
"Walsh submitted his resignation as he did not wish to continue under the terms of his existing agreement, (and) his resignation was accepted by SAI (Sports Authority of India) with effect from November 19," Norman told dna on Thursday via e-mail.
"As the team is preparing under the guidance of high-performance director Roelant Oltmans and three other coaches, we wish to keep the team focussed on the task at hand being the Champions Trophy. As to discussions on the appointment of a new chief coach with the national men's programme, this will only be considered after the Champions Trophy is completed," she added.
This rules out Walsh's return at least till next month's Champions Trophy in Bhubaneshwar. Even after that, it seems HI president Narinder Batra, who has alleged Walsh of financing irregularities during his time with Hockey USA, is in no mood to have the two-time Olympian back in the set-up.
"We have received a mail from Hockey USA and as per that mail, the issue of financial irregularity by Walsh in USA is not settled even as of today. Hence, his contention that his issue with (Hockey) USA was settled in 2012 is false and incorrect," Batra said.
"Walsh has been given sufficient time to clarify on the financial irregularity issue and he, instead, tried to beat around the bush. HI now does not require services of Walsh and will look for a new chief coach with approval of SAI," Batra added.
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