Hockey News: Sjoerd Marijne, ex-coach and his controversial book on Indian hockey

However, Marijne recently made headlines after his upcoming book "Will Power: The Inside Story of the Incredible Turnaround in Indian Women's Hockey" raised serious controversies even before its release on September 21, 2022. 

The renowned coach wrote a new book highlighting the transformation of the women's hockey team. Still, he took the liberty of releasing information that offended the stakeholders of Indian hockey and some of the players.

Marijne writes about the medical condition surrounding a hockey player.

On September 19, 2022, the Delhi High Court curbed the medical condition of a decorated player - Gurjit Kaur - through Marijne and his publisher - HarperCollins Publishers India Pvt Ltd.

Additionally, Hockey India (HI) had stated that the governing body would take legal remedies against Marijne and the publisher for criticising men's team captain Manpreet Singh. 

Marijne's observations seem to have been obtained when he coached the India men's hockey team. Justice has now declared that the book's author owes a "duty of care" to Kaur, who trained under Marijne. 

The fact that Kaur's teammates knew about her medical condition means they could also be bound by the code of conduct which curbs them from divulging the information to the media. 

The code also required the coach not to disclose information relayed to him in confidence to appease their desires or reap benefits. 

Kaur said the coach learned of her condition during his coaching stint with the team.

Marijne held in a controversy built around Manpreet Singh

Marijne further disclosed that Manpreet Singh asked a player "to stop playing so well" so his friends could qualify for the team. In an excerpt from the book published in The Indian Express, he states, "I don't know if Manpreet had said so as a joke, but it made me so furious."

In response, the men's and women's teams released a joint statement, declaring that the former coach made such allegations against Manpreet to gain attention. 

"We have come together to state our deep disappointment in his (Marijne's) exploitation of our personal information and false accusations," they said. 

They shared that the experience makes Indian athletes feel vulnerable in such situations. Moreover, if his claims are valid, Marijne should have reported the matter to either Hockey India or the Sports Authority of India, a crucial step he didn't bother to take. 

The teams checked with the authorities and couldn't find any records of such complaints made by Marijne. He had a nine-month-long coaching stint with the Indian men's hockey team before he was sacked after his side's poor display at the 2018 Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast. 

He took charge of the women's team after that and created history.