FIH Pro League | Varun issue a challenge & distraction but team professional enough to focus: Fulton
The Hindu
Indian men's hockey team focuses on Olympic preparations in Bhubaneswar, avoiding distraction of sexual misconduct allegations.
The Indian men’s hockey team landed in the city hoping to get its Olympic preparations on track in the FIH Pro League at the venue it is most comfortable in, but for the past two days, it has been trying to avoid the contentious issue of a player being accused of sexual misconduct, staying under the radar to focus on the task at hand instead.
On Friday, Captain Harmanpreet Singh preferred to not comment, only saying that he was “named in the list of 29 probables and the coach has said he will keep changing the team so hopefully he (Varun) will get a chance later and be with us.”
Coach Craig Fulton was more forthcoming, admitting it had been a challenge but insisting the team was professional enough to stay focused.
ALSO READ: Varun to pull out from Pro League hockey to seek legal recourse
“If you take it from outside in, of course, it’s a challenging situation. At the same time, you’ve got a level of professionalism and you have to have plans in place. If you took it as an injury, what are the plans in place? There was always a plan for anyone who gets injured and if Varun is not here, we are going with the values we hold in the group. We have a situation but we have plans to keep everyone focused. It’s a distraction and it’s not great but we need to move forward,” Fulton insisted on the eve of the team’s opening game against Spain.
These will be India’s last matches at home before Paris and the team aims to use them to prepare for the road ahead, including getting closer to the final Olympic squad.
“These games are really important but we are still five months away and we want to get as much out of this block as we can. It is the home stretch but it is also about us confirming our Olympic squad. We have 29 players here, 24 in the playing squad and we will be trying to give everyone a chance across the two legs here.
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