WSH: Nimbus sends notice to national hockey players

MUMBAI: Nimbus Sport, the promoter of World Series Hockey, has reportedly sent legal notices to national players who did not take part in the event despite signing contracts with the organisers.

Team India?s striker Shivendra Singh, who was picked to play for Bhopal Badshahs, has claimed that he has received a mail from the organising committee seeking reasons for his absence.

The players who were part of the team that qualified for the Olympics could not take part since they did not want to risk their international career by participating in the tournament which is not sanctioned by HI.

Meanwhile, the Olympics preparatory camps for the India men?s hockey team had to be postponed Monday as Hockey India, the governing body of the sport in India, did not receive necessary clearances from the Union sports ministry and Sports Authority of India.

The preparatory camps of the 48 member strong contingent was expected to take place at the SAI centre in Bangalore,. However, the venue could not be released for the camp since the government did not approve the training schedule after the qualifiers.

However, in a major relief to HI, the Madhya Pradesh government has come forward to help conduct the camp in its capital city Bhopal and is also ready to bear the entire cost of preparation for the Olympics.

"The Madhya Pradesh government said they were ready to bear the entire cost of our preparation for the Olympics, be it training or tours.We thank them for the gesture and are seriously considering shifting the camp to Bhopal if the central government is not interested in promoting the game," HI secretary Narinder Batra has been quoted as saying to TOI.

Batra said he would expect the sports ministry to finalise the schedule of the camp.

The Indian team had on 26 February qualified for the 2012 London Olympics following their emphatic win over France in the qualifiers in New Delhi.