The Bangladesh Hockey Federation on Thursday decided to serve show-cause notices to six individuals for the national team’s failure in the recently concluded Asia Cup Hockey, informed a top official after a meeting of the governing body. Four senior players – Russell Mahmud Jimmy, Zahid Hossain, Qamruzzaman Rana and Imran Hasan Pintu, assistant coach Mahbub Harun and umpire Selim Lucky will receive show-cause notices by Saturday and they have been asked to reply before October 23.
After going through three reports submitted by the national side’s Pakistani coach Naveed Alam, manager Abdur Rashid Sikder and the three-member fact-finding committee, hockey’s governing body warned another four players – Mamunur Rahman Chayan, Krishna Kumar, Pushkar Khisa Mimo and Mainul Islam Kaushik – of their future conduct.
BHF president Air Marshal Enamul Bari briefed the reporters after the meeting and said that a few players lacked commitment during the tournament, including star player Jimmy.
‘The [three] reports mentioned that [Jimmy] was not a regular in the training camp and didn’t stay with the rest of the squad. [Jimmy] didn’t follow the dress code,’ said Bari.
‘[Jimmy] involved himself in internal politics rather than concentrating on the team’s performance. We also have reports that said that [Jimmy] quarrelled with the team captain and vice captain,’ he added.
The BHF president went on to accuse assistant coach Mahbub for breaking team unity.
‘The reports said that [Mahbub] was involved with illegal activities and didn’t co-operate with the head coach. [Mahbub] has been with the national team for 18 months now and we appointed him because he knows many things about the team. We want him to come up with a proper explanation,’ he said.
Meanwhile, the BHF decided to implement a code of conduct for the national team players. To establish a strong national side in the future, the governing body is also thinking about forming an Under-18 and Under-21 team.
-With New Age input
