Sports Ministry in dark about Van Ass's sacking

Sports Ministry officials clarified that they are yet to receive any form of communication on Indian men's hockey team coach Paul van Ass, who claims to have been sacked by Hockey India.

"We have received no communication from Hockey India on this," said Sports Secretary Ajit Sharan when asked about Van Ass.

"We have no knowledge of his sacking," another Ministry official added.

SAI pays Van Ass' salary but no senior official from the Ministry's nodal agency was available for comments on yet another controversy hitting Indian hockey.

Earlier, Van Ass created a flutter by claiming that he has been fired by Hockey India following his alleged public altercation with federation president Narinder Batra.

After days of intense speculation over his fate, the outspoken Dutchman came out in the open to clear his position and said that he was conveyed that his services were no longer required. "As far I know I was fired one week after the Hockey World League Semi-finals in Antwerp, Belgium. Roelant Oltmans (High Performance Director) was asked to replace me," Van Ass told PTI from The Netherlands.