In what seems to be open difference of opinion within Hockey India. Hours after its president Dilip Tirkey sent letters to the director general and executive body members, another letter surfaced. This time it was reply from HI DG RK Srivastava who defended the move to change the colour of the jersey from blue to saffron.
A day after Tirkey defended the change in colour, he sent two mails that claimed the executive board including him were not kept in the loop about the change. Srivastava, on the other hand reportedly claimed in a mail doing rounds on Friday that office-bearers were consulted. There are three office bearers in a National Sports Federation -- president, secretary and treasurer. The president has said that he did not know about the changes. Tirkey asked Srivastava about the rationale behind the change and asked: "Whether any consultation was undertaken with the President, Executive Board, current players, coaches, former international players or other relevant stakeholders..."
On the allegations, HI DG replied saying, "feedback from the national coaching staff, the leadership group of players, a technical review of visibility and contrast issues, design development with the kit partner, and internal clearance through the appropriate officers responsible.” The mail further said that kit was finalised "through the appropriate officers responsible for high performance operations and kit management."
The intrigue behind change in colour of the jersey just got deeper.
On Friday, Tirkey sent two emails to find out details about who instituted the change in the colour of the Indian jersey from blue to saffron ahead of the World Cup. The mails, accessed by this daily, were sent to HI's top brass. Interestingly, Tirkey on Thursday claimed said that the change was done because the colour blue blended with the astro-turf and there was visibility issue.
In the first mail, titled 'Clarification Regarding Change in Indian National Team Jersey Colour' and addressed to EB members, made it clear that his 'concern was not with the choice of saffron itself'. However, he writes that 'this decision appears to have been taken and implemented without being placed before the Executive Board for discussion and without my prior knowledge'.
As reported by this daily on Thursday, Tirkey, the second most capped Indian men's hockey player in history, wasn't even present in Bengaluru during the jersey unveiling. While that in itself may be normal, he wasn't even aware that the jersey unveiling was actually a switcheroo without the prior consent of the head.
While the president has made his peace with the team wearing saffron at the World Cup, he wants a 'written clarification at the earliest' so that he can 'respond appropriately and accurately'. While the former India captain made it clear that he didn't wish to apportion blame, he wanted to see 'transparency, accountability and adherence to our established decision-making processes.'
In the second email, directly addressed to 'Commander Srivastava Ji' (executive director of the federation), Tirkey raised a five-point agenda to be made available by 5.00 PM on Friday.
The points:
1. The background and rationale for changing the traditional colour of the Indian National Team jersey
2. The authority under which the decision was taken
3. The process followed in arriving at the decision, including the officers, committees or other persons involved
4. Whether any consultation was undertaken with the President, Executive Board, current players, coaches, former international players or other relevant stakeholders
5. And the reasons why neither the President nor the Executive Board was informed or consulted prior to the public announcement
