India’s great goalkeeper PR Sreejesh has questioned Hockey India’s attitude of giving preference to foreign coaches and said that despite good performance, he is being removed from the post of coach of the junior team. In a post on social media on Wednesday (May 13), Sreejesh wrote that despite good performance, he was removed because Hockey India wants foreign coaches even at the junior level.
Sreejesh wrote on ‘X’, ‘It seems that my coaching career has ended after just one and a half years, in which we played five tournaments and stood on the podium five times including the Junior World Cup. I have heard that coaches are removed after poor performance but for the first time I am being removed for appointing a foreign coach. Sreejesh said, ‘Hockey India President says that the head coach of the senior men’s team wants foreign coaches at the junior level also, because he believes that this will help in the development of Indian hockey from junior level to senior level.’
Sreejesh asked tough questions
Sreejesh’s tenure as coach of India’s junior team ended in December 2025 and he had reapplied for the post. The head coach of the Indian men’s hockey team is Craig Fulton of South Africa, while the coach of the women’s team is Sjoerd Marin of the Netherlands. Sreejesh became the head coach of the Under-21 men’s team after winning the bronze medal in the Paris Olympics 2024. During his tenure the team won gold medal in Junior Asia Cup, bronze medal in Junior World Cup and Johor Cup. Sreejesh further wrote, ‘Can’t Indian coaches develop Indian hockey?’
Sreejesh said that Sports Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had also said that the country needs coaches like him but Hockey India has faith only in foreign coaches. He said, ‘In a meeting with Honorable Sports Minister Shri Mansukh Mandaviya on March 7, 2026, I was told that Sreejesh, we need coaches like you to prepare for the 2036 Olympics.’ Sreejesh further said, ‘But Hockey India trusts foreign coaches instead of Indian coaches for all four teams.’ Sreejesh has tagged Sports Minister, PMO, Hockey India, Sports Authority of India and Hockey India President Dilip Tirkey in his post.
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