Sardar Singh quizzed by police at Leeds

BENGALURU: The Indian hockey team's celebrations following their 7-1 win against Pakistan in the Hockey World League Semifinals in London on Sunday was cut short following a summons from Yorkshire police to former skipper Sardar Singh.
Last year, Ashpal Bhogal, a British citizen of Indian origin and a hockey player had accused Sardar of sexual assault and claimed to have been his fiancée. With cases registered against the 31-year-old in both India and England in the lead-up to the Rio Olympics, Sardar was replaced by PR Sreejesh as captain.
On Sunday, hours before the high-voltage league clash, the Indian team management and Sardar were informed that the player had to report for questioning in Leeds, about 270 km from London. On Monday, even as the team trained ahead of their last league engagement against The Netherlands, Sardar was questioned by the police at Monday noon.
According to team sources, the police questioning wasn't unexpected because Bhogal was seen at the team hotel earlier this week and trouble was anticipated.
Confirming the turn of events, chief coach Roelant Oltmans told TOI, "Yes, Sardar has been called for questioning. It is unfortunate that he has to go all the way to Leeds in in the middle of an important tournament. We were informed about the questioning before the match against Pakistan but I informed the team this morning."
Asked if the situation will have any bearing on the team's morale, the Dutchman said, "The players are aware of the situation and we as a team stand by Sardar in these testing circumstances. That said, this does not take away the focus from the job on hand."
Oltmans also said that Sardar, who was yet to return to London till late in the evening, was available for selection for the match against the Dutch. "Sardar has had a good tournament so far and he will play in Tuesday's match, unless he is tired after all the questioning and travel," he explained.
FIH sorry for Batra remarks
FIH, the governing body of hockey on Monday apologized for comments made on social media by president Narinder Batra after India's loss to Pakistan in the Champions Trophy final, report agencies. These are the "personal thoughts of Dr. Batra... not representative of the views of the FIH", it said in a statement. The federation says it asked Batra to delete the comments - which it did not detail-made after Sunday's game. The FIH says the incident "will be reviewed internally in line with our governance processes."