Hockey players demand punishment of BHF secretary over alleged verbal abuse

A few discarded players from the national men's hockey team today demanded exemplary punishment for Bangladesh Hockey Federation's (BHF's) incumbent joint secretary Abu Jafar Tapan for allegedly verbally abusing the players.

"We don't have any problem in being axed from the squad. But joint secretary [Abu Jafar] Tapan bhai told us abusive words. Are we playing for the national team to hear such offensive words? He can't behave like this as the joint secretary," said midfielder Nayeem Uddin at the National Stadium today.

Apart from Nayeem, national discard and former captain Pushkor Khisha Mimo, Hasan Jubair Niloy, Abed Uddin and two other players turned up before the media to demand his punishment.

Four players – Mimo, Nayeem, Abed and Moinul Islam Koushik – were excluded from the 18-member final squad of the Bangladesh hockey Team for the Men's Asia Cup, scheduled to be held on August 9-Septmeber 2 in Bihar, India.

According to Nayeem, all four players went to BHF general secretary Riazul Hassan to know the reason for their exclusion. At one point, Tapan, who also refused to shake hands with the players, hurled abusive words towards them after losing his temper. However, Tapan, a former national player, also apologised to the players for using abusive words.

"If the national players are being disrespected in this way, other players may also face such disrespect. So we want exemplary punishment for him on the basis of investigation," said Nayeem, adding that they are also ready to get punished if they are proven wrong.

Mimo said that they would place a letter to the BHF president on Sunday, demanding the punishment and removal of Tapan.