The 2016 Junior World Cup-winning coach has reportedly laid down a few ground rules for his return, which includes a free hand in selection matters and a salary on par with foreign coaches.
There seems to be no end to the stand-off between Harendra Singh and Hockey India (HI), an impasse that all but signals a full stop to the ousted senior men's team coach's stint with Indian hockey.
With Harendra – who was "adviced" by a HI committee earlier this month to return as junior national coach after below-par results with the senior side in the Asian Games and the FIH World Cup – setting some demands for taking up the role, HI is in no mood to play ball.
The 2016 Junior World Cup-winning coach has reportedly laid down a few ground rules for his return, which includes a free hand in selection matters and a salary on par with foreign coaches.
HI, however, feel it is "laughable" for someone who has been effectively "demoted" to set demands like these.
"If you're heading a company, and if an employee who you want to demote bargains with you like this, will you want to keep him? Nobody will do that, and even we will not," a top HI official said on condition of anonymity.
"On the one hand he hasn't delivered results as a coach what we, and he himself, expected when he took over the senior team, and on top of that he wants us to agree to whatever he wants. It doesn't work like that," he added.
The official said that the national federation will soon convene a meeting to arrive at its final decision, adding that HI has not held talks with Harendra yet.
A high performance and development committee of HI had, on January 9, recommended Harendra's return as junior coach but that scenario looks increasingly unlikely.
In a home World Cup marred by off-field drama and controversies coupled with India's quarterfinal exit, HI felt Harendra was not in "control" of the players as the head coach of the senior men's team, a role he was asked to take up early last year after being shifted from the senior women's side.
The federation even questioned his selection of players, with Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra – a former HI boss – saying "indiscipline and groupism" had crept into the team in a long Facebook post without naming Harendra.
It is also learnt that Jude Felix, the current coach of the India colts whose contract runs till May this year, has till date not been contacted by anybody from HI to apprise him about the current situation or his future.
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