It's not Brasa's job to name captain: MS Gill

NEW DELHI: Sports minister MS Gill reacted strongly to the controversy over the captaincy of the Indian hockey team on Wednesday, saying dissent over such issues can only distract the players from their goal performing well in the World Cup.

Gill sounded upset when asked about the differences between the selectors and coach Jose Brasa over Rajpal Singh and Prabhjot Singh. "Factionalism in the team cannot be accepted at any cost. It will cause great damage to the team in the long run," he said.

Gill said that he was surprised that a vote was taken inside the team to decide the captain. "It was a vote to breach the integrity and unity of the team. This is unacceptable.

"The team's job is to train for the World Cup and the coach's duty is help them train and make them ready for the challenges ahead. It is not Brasa's job to decide the captain. It is the job of the selectors and the selection committee. I saw the fight over captaincy at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. The team could not recover from that. We cannot let it happen again. The players should get on with the job."