Revolt Against Officials

The Indian residents of Toronto, inspired by our success an year earlier, had started an ambitious endeavour called Project Gold Medal. They had collected quite a few thousand dollars for the Indian players, so that we would not lack any amenity or facility. They even arranged a playground for our practice. That was the kind of love residents living thousands of miles away had for the homeland.

The initiators of Project Gold Medal wanted to distribute the money equally among the players. However, manager R. S. Bhola felt that purchasing a video tape recorder and other equipment would serve the cause of Indian hockey better.

Let me confess, we all have a soft corner for hard currency abroad. It enables us to earn a little more foreign exchange for our shopping.

All the players were unhappy and unwilling to see the free flow of dollars coming our way get diverted. The players' discontent increased till it climaxed in a revolt against the manager.

The fallout of this revolt was a letter signed by all the players alleging that the coach and the manager were only interested in themselves, and not in the welfare of the team. The letter was published by Khalid Ansari in his popular magazine Sportsweek, and it even inspired editorials.

To add to this revolt was a lawsuit. The Pakistani team had also arrived in Toronto for a mini pre-Olympic tournament. However, the Indian and Pakistani teams refused to play against each other. The host hockey association felt cheated and took the matter to court. It was finally resolved with both India and Pakistan playing against a common team.

After all these unsavoury happenings in Toronto, a tense Indian team landed in Montreal for the Olympics.

A Word of Praise from R. S. Gentle