Paul van Ass Won't Return: Hockey India's Evaluation Committee

Hockey India has officially confirmed that Paul van Ass won't return to coach the national men's team. This after its evaluation committee decided not to continue with him after a stint of a year and 15 days.

Speaking to members of the media on Friday, Harbinder Singh - chairman of Hockey India's evaluation committee - said that van Ass has not submitted any report and hasn't even responded to them. "No, he (van Ass) won't return. The coach isn't responding. The discipline is same for boys and officials. We have not considered him as he has not sent his report," said Harbinder.

Van Ass now officially becomes the fourth national coach in five years to be shown the door by Hockey India. The Dutchman made headlines recently because of his on-field tiff with HI chief Narinder Batra. He had asked Batra to leave the field after he came to interact with players after a Hockey World League Semi-Final match. "He spoke rudely to me. There is no ego issue with him but I do not feel he is a good coach," Batra had told NDTV. (Full report)

Van Ass though had already accused HI of sacking him verbally even though the federation had then denied it. "I don't know the reason, but I think it could be because I asked Hockey India president Mr Batra to leave the turf during the quarter-final match," Van Ass had said. He also hit back against Batra saying he was not a good coach. "I am not bothered about his opinion. It is not serious."

With less than a year left for the Rio Olympics, losing a coach - many feel - will jolt India's preparations. This especially as assistant coach Jude Felix also quit from his post on Friday.