Rubbishing allegations of sexual misconduct levelled against him by a woman hockey player, the Indian women hockey team coach, Maharaj Krishan Kaushik, on Wednesday said he was being framed in a sinister conspiracy.Putting up a brave face while speaking to reporters in the national capital, Kaushik stated that weak players, who failed to make it to the national team and required such a controversy to boost their sagging careers, had filed the complaints.
"Nothing has happened. That girl had become the captain of the junior team, but her performance was not up to the mark. She fared very poorly in the tournaments. Everyone can see how she played on video cassettes that we have of the matches. We even invited her to a special coaching camp to improve her game. But if she feels that she cannot make it big, it is her problem," said Kaushik.
Kaushik's scathing comments signal the beginning of a bitter brawl that could bring more skeletons out of the closet for Hockey Indian, suggested media reports.
Meanwhile, Kaushik has withdrawn his name from the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy in South Korea on moral grounds, saying that he wanted to come clean from the scandal.
Expressing his disappointment with the players, he opined that all charges levelled against him were baseless and had absolutely no truth to them.
"I have been called for the meeting and I will keep my things over there with them. You will all get to know about the meeting. The allegations are all baseless and nothing is true," said Kaushik.
He added that hockey was his passion and that he would continue to promote the game once he was absolved of the scandal.
Meanwhile, Hockey India (HI) has set up a high-level committee comprising experts and former players to probe the matter.
The committee comprises of former hockey captains Zafar Iqbal and Ajit Pal Singh along with Sudarshan Pathak and Rajiv Mehta
