Roelant Oltmans blasts Hockey India for ridiculous allegations

09/10/2017

Roelant Oltmans has rebuked reports that he had lost interest in the National team following the Rio Olympics, calling the allegations ridiculous. The Dutch coach, who was handed a new four-year deal in 2016, said that Hockey India were just trying to justify his sacking with the comments.

Oltmans had initially been appointed as the High-Performance director in 2013 and was later promoted as a head coach when his compatriot Paul Van Ass left controversially in 2015. Times of India, yesterday, quoted an official saying that the former coach had been sacked because he had "lost interest in the team".

"The allegations made against me are ridiculous. It is disappointing to read what people in Hockey India are saying now. Firstly, I have no business interest in India to get distracted and to say I had become predictable as a coach or I confused the players is also wrong. After each tournament, we went through our performances and made changes," Oltmans told TOI.

"I think Hockey India is trying to justify why they sacked me. I accept they wanted another coach; they may have had their reasons, so let them hire someone else, which they have. We will see in the future if the decision is right or wrong."

The source also questioned Oltman's tactics and his commitment towards promoting young players to the senior side. The 63-year-old coach was quick to refute these claims as well stating that he had spent a lot of time with the youth team and as many as 13 young players had been promoted to the senior team ahead of the next year's World Cup in India.

"After the Olympics I was with the junior men's team for four months in the build-up to the World Cup. Thirteen from the junior set-up were included into the core group this year. So where is the question of not encouraging youngsters?" Oltmans questioned.

"What are they talking about results? The first three tournaments were used to find the right combinations."