LUCKNOW: A lot of people in the country have been affected ever since the government’s demonetisation drive early last month. People have been standing in queues for hours together, trying to replace old notes.
India junior team manager Roelant Oltmans would have also had to stand in one of them if he had changed his practice of accepting fines in rupees instead of euros. The 61-year-old has implemented a system wherein latecomers to all team-based sessions (training, bonding, official dinner and so on) are expected to fork over a certain amount as fine.
Two hours before the Narendra Modi government went public, a few of the players in the camp in Bengaluru had asked Oltmans whether they could pay their fines in rupees. “We do not have any more euros,” all of them cried. Ever the disciplinarian, Oltmans did not want to create a precedent. “No. I’ll not accept rupees,” was his short reply to the players.
“An hour later, I get a message on my phone saying `500 and `1000 notes have been banned. I was very happy that I did not accept it from the players.”