Indian hockey players return to training camp after strike

January 13, 2010

Members of the Indian national hockey team have returned to the official training camp in Delhi. The players started to strike on Sunday over wages. Authorities for Indian hockey settled the despute, while in a separate incident Sahara, the sponsor for the team paid US$220,000(₨10m, €151k) to the players. The players had been accused of blackmail. Suresh Kalmadi, an Indian sports official commented on the incident saying that “We have sorted out the problem”. He said they will return to the training camp on Thursday.

The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati offered the team 50 million rupees (US$1 million, €698k) while MS Gill, the Indian sports minister appealed for the players to return to the camp immediately.

The World Cup will start next month on the 28th and will be played over two weeks. India have won the tournament once, in 1975.