Hockey dispute between players and federation resolved for now

Hockey India (HI) officials and senior India players resolved the issues arising out of non-payment of sponsorship money, match fees and bonuses, after a marathon meeting here on Saturday.

HI president Ashok Kumar Mattoo said the players will go back to Pune and continue with their preparations for the World Cup.

The players had "boycotted" the ongoing national camp in Pune from Friday, protesting against the non-payment of their dues.

Mattoo met six Indian players captain Rajpal Singh, Sandeep Singh, Sardara Singh, Tushar Khandekar, Prabhjot Singh and Arjun Halappa and national coach Harendra Singh that lasted close to four hours.

Rajpal said that they were happy with the outcome of the meeting. "We are satisfied with the outcome of the meeting. It's good that we came here and had a frank discussion to sort out the issues," Rajpal said. "We will continue with our training from tomorrow (Sunday)," he said.