Despite the disaster, Gill isn’t thinking of quitting just yet

But K P S Gill and K Jothikumaran have no such plans as of now. “We will have to wait till the team comes back. I won’t say anything more at the moment,” was Gill’s reaction when The Indian Express got through to him.

And Jothikumaran practically washed his hands off the debacle, saying the IHF had provided the team with all they had asked for.

“It’s a shame that we lost and failed to make it to the Olympics, but now we cannot do anything. Let the team come back and then we will have our internal meeting where we will decide what has to be done. As far as the resignations of coach and support staff are concerned we have not got any official letter,” Kumaran said.

Can’t function like this

Meanwhile, Batra — who has always been vocal against the IHF and the heads — left nothing unsaid. “It is a shame for us that we lost and that is why I have resigned from my post. I cannot work in a body where our president K P S Gill doesn’t listen to us. It’s autocratic rule here at the IHF.

“It’s not just me, I think everyone should tender their resignations. It’s not the players who are to be blamed for this defeat, it’s the federation.

“We have a coach in Joaquim Carvalho, I don’t doubt his credentials but then in our federation the coach is a mere yes man. Whatever the federation says, the coach does.

“Moreover, for the past four-five months, secretary K Jothikumaran and Gill are having conflicts amongst themselves. It’s high time the government took over from them. If things go on like this, instead of a national game the sport will become a national shame,” N K Batra told The Indian Express.

Batra also came openly against team selection. “Does anyone know how the team is being selected? The man who is selecting the team is Gills security officer and all the selectors do is to just sign on the sheet that is given to them,” Batra said.