Indian players 'yelled at' for entering restricted area

Bhubaneswar: In a major embarrassment for the World Cup organisers , Indian team players including captain Manpreet Singh were yelled at by a top Hockey India official after they were seen at the VIP lounge of the Kalinga Stadium during the match between Netherlands and Canada.

As per the protocol of the tournament, the players were not entitled to be present at the VIP lounge. But on the request of a few near and dear ones, Manpreet and a few players entered the area and was busy in signing autographs and clicking pictures with their fans.

But the players’ gesture didn’t go down well with the Hockey India with one of its top official storming the restricted area and yelling at the players to leave the place.

When asked India captain Manpreet about the episode, he said: “It was our own mistake that we went to the restricted area without our knowledge. It is not that we were taken there forcibly by someone. Anyways, when we realised our mistake we just came out.

“These are minor episodes which will have no effect on our performance against Netherlands tomorrow,” he said, referring to the all-important quarterfinal.