3-member committee speaks to coach, manager on tonsuring issue

The three-member committee, formed by the Bengal Hockey Association (BHA) to investigate the incident where junior players were allegedly asked to shave their heads after a loss, met the coach and the team manager on Tuesday and heard their versions of the story. The three members -- former hockey Olympian Gurbux Singh, BHA council member Jahangir Khan and former hockey player Gopinath Ghosh -- will next meet the players and the decision is expected by January 29, BHA secretary Swapan Banerjee said.

"We met the coach and the manager of the team and spoke to them. We heard their versions. Now we have to speak to the players as there cannot be one sided view. We will then come to a conclusion by January 28, 29," Banerjee told IANS. After losing to Namdhari XI 1-5 in the quarterfinal of the India Junior National Championship (B Division) in Jabalpur, coach Anand Kumar had allegedly asked the under-19 Bengal hockey squad players to shave their heads.

While some members of the squad said they did it out of respect and disappointment, the coach said he never asked them to shave their heads and even tried to stop them when he came to know of it. The U-19 squad comprised 18 players and it was learnt that all players except two had shaved their heads. A dozen of the players were from SAI's Eastern Regional Centre in Salt Lake.