Indians to take Canada to court

Hockey

Six Indian hockey players are to file defamation charges in court against the Canadian Federation for alleging that they had accepted money for playing a drawn game against Malaysia. "This is the most vicious and slanderous campaign against Indian hockey," Pargat Singh, the Indian captain, said.

In a letter to the Federation Internationale de , the sports' governing body, the Canadians alleged that the six Indian players "accepted the promise of money to help produce a tie game" during the Olympic qualifying tournament in Barcelona, Spain, last month. The drawn game enabled Malaysia to qualify for the Atlanta Olympic games at the expense of Canada.

K P S Gill, the president of the Indian Federation, said that the players were consulting attorneys on whether to file defamation charges in Canada or Brussels, the headquarters of the FIH.

The Indian team finished second in the qualifying tournament. Their coach, Cedric D'Souza, said the players had been too tired to play a more energetic match.