The sorry saga surrounding the alleged sacking of Indian men's hockey team coach Paul Van Ass is getting murkier by the day.
Contrasting statements around whether the coach was actually sacked or something else is the story behind his absence without notice continued to emerge on Wednesday, with the all-important Hockey India (HI) meeting on Friday holding the key.
The latest from Van Ass's home in Holland - where he currently is - is that he has mailed all the communication, including the letter he was sent by Roelant Oltmans about his sacking, to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and is waiting for them to confirm this.
"I have sent all the correspondence to SAI; they should now confirm about the mail I have sent them," Van Ass told IBNLive on Tuesday night, while maintaining that that he didn't quit but was actually sacked by Hockey India (HI).
While no one from SAI was available for a comment, Sports Secretary Ajit Sharan, whom IBNLive contacted on Wednesday, did acknowledge receipt of the mail but described it as just "rambling" and not a proof of sacking as Van Ass described.
"I have checked with SAI Director General (Injeti Srinivas). They tell me that all they have got is a mail that's more of a rambling saying Oltmans told him that he has been sacked. There is no mail from Oltmans that he has shared with SAI.
"And who is Oltmans to inform him about sacking!" Sharan added, suggesting that Van Ass should have got in touch with his employers SAI once he got to know something of that sort.
All coaches working for HI are actually the employees of SAI.
Van Ass's stand also lost strength further when Batra shared the copy of his confirmed ticket with Network 18, which crossed out the Dutchman's earlier comments that HI didn't provide him with a ticket to return to India after vacations.
Network 18 checked the authenticity of the ticket, which confirmed to be true. When told about the ticket, Van Ass's previous stand of not having a ticket changed a bit, further raising doubts over the actual reason of his absence.
"I had an unconfirmed return ticket from Europe with me. Mr. Batra may have got it confirmed after July 13, when I got the mail from Oltmans saying that I am not longer needed by Hockey India," he said. However, he refused to share the mail Oltmans sent him.
"I am not out for revenge or to point fingers at Hockey India. I just want you to understand I was sacked," Van Ass added.
Two days since the bizarre news broke on Monday, HI and president Batra seemed to be gaining some ground unless Van Ass shares the mail from Oltmans he has continuously been talking about.
If that happens, it will also raise a question on the role of High Performance Director Oltmans, whether he should be revealing his discussions with Hockey India to someone unless instructed to do so.
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