Indian Hockey team President Gyandnendro Ningobam approached the International Hockey Federation CEO Thierry Well, stating his disappointment over the reaction shown by some of the national associations on Indian Athlete’s being handed by FIH Hockey Stars Award.
The letter read- “ I write to you today on behalf of the Hockey Indian Executive Board that is very disturbed by the reaction of some National Associations and athletes to the announcement of the Indian nominees as the winners of the recently announced FIH Hockey Stars Awards 2021. We believe that the public statements of displeasure at the announcement of the Indian winners is highly disrespectful and not in the spirit of sportsmanship and the sport of Hockey.”
Gurjit Kaur (FIH player of the year women), Harmanpreet Singh (FIH Goalkeeper of the Year Women), Vivek Prasad (FIG rising star of the year Men) were felicitated at the FIH ceremony. Ningobam further asserted that the core of the matter was that the national associations need to introspect to see their actual level of participation and interest right from the start instead of intervening as the results aren’t announced in their favour.
The Indian athletes legitimately won polls across all three categories and yet are undermined by such negative comments by fellow athletes and National Associations. He signed off urging the FIH CEO to request Belgium Federation to issue an official public apology for the derogatory comments on the achievements of the Indian athletes and coaches on social media.