SAI contends Terry Walsh was anguished over Hockey India working

Terry Walsh

New Delhi, Oct 21 (IANS) Hours after Terry Walsh resigned as chief coach of the Indian men's hockey team citing difficulty with the country's bureaucratic system, Sports Authority of India (SAI) director general Jiji Thomson Tuesday contended that the Australian was unhappy with the functioning within Hockey India (HI) and not regarding the nodal agency.

"Today, he (Walsh) made a visit to our office and met Sudhir Setia, executive director (Teams) wherein he expressed his anguish regarding working in a suffocating atmosphere in the federation. We are totally unaware of what happened in HI," Thomson said in a statement.

Earlier in the day, Walsh had cited "difficulty in adjusting to the functioning of the country's bureaucratic system which is not working in the interest of its hockey players" to end his one-year association with the Asian Games gold medal-winning team.

Thomson said the SAI is surprised with the sudden resignation of the 60-year-old hockey professional.

"We are extremely surprised and disappointed with the sudden resignation of Terry Walsh, one of the finest coaches in world hockey. We are extremely satisfied with his performance and it was because of his outstanding professional credentials that he was selected as the chief coach," Thomson said.

The SAI director general also said that Walsh could have discussed with him the issues of concern before taking the decision.

"If Walsh had any complaint about the functioning of SAI, he could have very well come and discussed it with us," he said.