India legend PR Sreejesh hits out at Hockey India after sacking over foreign coach: 'First time I am experiencing this'

Indian hockey legend PR Sreejesh has strongly criticised Hockey India after being removed as coach of the Indian junior men’s hockey team to make way for a foreign coach.

Sreejesh shared an emotional post on X on Wednesday, expressing disappointment over the decision. The former India goalkeeper, who was part of the Indian teams that won Olympic medals in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, had taken over as junior team coach after retiring from international hockey.

Sreejesh on being removed as India coach

Under Sreejesh, the Indian junior men’s team performed impressively. In his post, he said the team played five tournaments during his 1.5-year coaching stint and finished on the podium in all five competitions, including winning a bronze medal at the Junior Hockey World Cup.

Sreejesh revealed that Dilip Tirkey had informed him that the senior men’s team chief coach wanted a foreign head coach for the junior team. According to Sreejesh, Hockey India believes that having foreign coaches at junior level will help create a better pathway for players moving into the senior national side.

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The former goalkeeper also referred to a meeting with Union Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya. According to Sreejesh, during the meeting, he was encouraged to continue contributing to Indian sports and help prepare the country for the 2036 Olympics.

Despite that support, Sreejesh claimed that Hockey India still sacked him to bring in foreign coaches.