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Rape allegations against Indian defender Varun Kumar have caused a distraction, believes coach Craig Fulton. Addressing the controversy, Fulton stated that Varun Kumar's absence from the FIH Pro League will be regarded as an injury setback for the men's hockey team.
Varun Kumar was accused of rape by a 22-year-old girl. Post the allegations, the Arjuna Award recipient pulled out of the tournament to take care of the legal avenues of the case.
Notably, the Indian men's hockey team is set to take on Japan in the opening game of the tournament on Saturday. Varun Kumar will now miss the tournament, which also comes as a major blow.
Addressing the media during a pre-event press conference, Craig Fulton said,
"If you take it from outside and, of course, it's a challenging situation but at the same time, you've got a level of professionalism and then from a start point of view we have to have our plans in place."
Fulton stated that the team has a plan in place despite the situation being 'distracting' and 'challenging'.
"So, if you took it as an injury, someone now is injured. What would you do? What are the plans in place in the event of an injury? So, Varun is not here. What is the plan? There always is a plan for anyone that gets injured for a long time... (be it) striker, mid-field or defence.
So we're going on the level of professionalism we have in the group, the values that we hold. It's a distraction, it's challenging, it's not great but we have to move forward, we have a plan in place on how we go."
"He is in the list of 29 probables" - India Skipper Harmanpreet Singh on Varun Kumar
Following his withdrawal from the league, India skipper Harmanpreet Singh is hopeful of Varun Kumar participating in future tournaments.
"He is in the list of 29 (probables). The coach has said it earlier that he will keep changing the team, so definitely he (Varun) can play also and definitely he will be with us also," the skipper was quoted as saying.
The home stretch will be an important one for the Indian team, serving as the best opportunity to finalize the squad for the Paris Olympics. Given the fact that the team had poor outcomes in Valencia and the tour of South Africa, a series of eight home games will be crucial.
"It is kind of home stretch but it's also about us confirming our Olympic squad," the coach said.
Fulton further added that the FIH Pro League games in Bhubaneshwar and Rourkela, where India takes on Spain, Netherlands, Australia, and Ireland, will provide him an opportunity to assess each player.
"We are trying to give everyone an opportunity in both competitions and then confirm our Olympic squad. That's really an important phase for us now. Then obviously to keep developing our game, our combinations within that."
While the team could incur losses, Fulton's eyes will be on consistency and team effort as criteria to confirm the Olympic squad.
"We want to be as close to performing as we can in every game and that's not always going to be the case. So, it's time to confirm our squad and at the same time getting some performances together and getting some consistency," he concluded.
Skipper Harmanpreet Singh, seconding the coach's thoughts, also stated that the final set of home games will be crucial in the Olympic squad selection.
"These are the last series of matches in India ahead of the Olympics. So, this is a good chance for us to try and improve further. We play some good matches here, so we have to see how we utilise this opportunity and how to prepare of the Olympic Games."
