Reports | Three Indian applicants don’t have required qualification for national coach

The Indian men’s hockey team has travelled to Ipoh, Malaysia, for the prestigious Sultan Azlan Shah Cup without the services of a chief coach for the side. After India had lost to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals of the previous World Cup, the then coach Harendra Singh was asked by the board to step down from his post.

Ever since then, the search for an eligible candidate for the post is still on with India getting ready to play the FIH Series Finals which will be the first qualifying tournament for the Tokyo Olympics. Meanwhile, HT has reported that Australia’s Graham Reid is in the race of becoming the next coach along with three Indians.

Pramod Batla, Ramesh Parmeswaran, and Sandeep Sangwan are the three former players who are in contention but there are reports that their qualification “would fall short of the criteria.”

“As per the HI’s eligibility criteria, a coach needs to have a Level 3 qualification. But the three Indian applicants don’t have that,” a Hockey India insider told HT.

According to the FIH website, “To access this (Level 3) course, one needs to be the head coach or programme director of a hockey team, have a minimum of three years qualified coaching experience, hold a FIH Hockey Academy Level 2 coach certificate or equivalent.”