Indian hockey plunged into a fresh crisis on Friday with revolting players boycotting the ongoing World Cup preparatory camp in Pune for an indefinite period in protest against non-payment of their dues.
The players took the unprecedented step to stay away from the camp after Hockey India, the interim body which is governing the game in the country, failed to resolve the payment dispute despite the players submitting two letters.
"We have decided to boycott the camp indefinitely till we are paid our money. We took such a decision in a meeting of players last night", captain Rajpal Singh said.
"Earlier we used to be paid after every tournament but it is not the case now. We had reminded the HI officials a few times, but nothing has been done. We will now report to the camp only after we are paid", Rajpal said.
The players' revolt comes barely six weeks before the hockey World Cup in New Delhi and is bound to have a bearing on the preparations for the high-profile event scheduled from 28th February to 13th March.
Hockey India (HI) is, however, confident of sorting out the payment dispute and has called some of the senior players for a meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.
Six of the senior players - Captain Rajpal Singh, Sardara Singh, Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh, Tushar Khandekar and Arjun Halappa -- will be in Delhi on Saturday for a promotional shoot and are expected to meet the HI officals to sort out the payment issue.
"I had received their letter two days back. I have mailed my response to them yesterday. I have called them for a meeting when the players come to Delhi tomorrow", HI President A K Mattoo said.
"I will talk to them and look into the matter to understand what exactly their grievances are. I am confident that we will sort out the problem soon," he said.
The senior players were annoyed by the delay in payment and had written a letter to Mattoo Demanding that money be paid within seven days.
The players claimed that they had given HI time till 8th January to resolve the issue, Mattoo said no such deadline was given to them.
"There was no mention of the deadline in the letter. Above all, they are the national hockey players. They should not have threatened us. They can't keep the dagger on my head to make me work. But we are confident about working out a solution when we talk to them", Mattoo said
Rajpal said the players were forced to take such a step because Hockey India "did not care for them".
"Hockey India does not care for the players, it is very sad. The sponsors are paying the money, but the players don't get anything," he said.
Apart from their dues, the players are also demanding an increase in their pay packages and some incentives.
The development evoked a sharp response from former players and administrators who said the matter should be resolved quickly in the larger interest of the game.
Former Hockey Federation chief KPS Gill described the development as "unfortunate" and advised the authorities to talk to the national team members and bring them back to the camp.
The team's foreign coach Jose Brasa sought to keep himself out of the controversy, saying he was not the person to talk about these problems.