With his career on the line, India's men's hockey coach, Paul van Ass, is anxiously awaiting the outcome of the all-important Hockey India (HI) meeting on Friday but has warned that if he is shown as the "dirty guy", he will make public every proof he has with him about his alleged sacking.
"Wait for the 24th (of July). If they try to prove me as the dirty guy, I will come out with everything I have with me," Van Ass told IBNLive without mincing any words.
Throughout the week since Monday, Van Ass has maintained that HI president Narinder Batra has fired him, and it's being wrongly projected that he has quit and therefore didn't return to India after the FIH World League semi-finals in Belgium.
The row began with the report that Batra and Van Ass had a spat after the quarter-final against Malaysia, which apparently ended with an angry exchange between them.
Batra at first denied any such incident, but when Van Ass came out in the media to confirm it after revealing that "he's been fired", the HI president too confirmed the incident.
That led to a series of allegations and counter-allegations with the Dutchman saying he was never wanted and didn't have a ticket to return to his job. Batra replied to that by sharing the copy of Van Ass's confirmed return tickets.
Now it was the coach's turn to make a u-turn as he said that Batra may have got the ticket confirmed after High Performance Director Roelant Oltmans sent a mail informing the Dutchman about his axe.
Van Ass then mailed his employer Sports Authority of India (SAI), claiming that he has attached with his mail all the proof that confirms he was actually sacked and didn't quit on his own.
When contacted by IBNLive, Sports Secretary Ajit Sharan said all that SAI has with them is a "rambling" mail without anything that proves Van Ass has been fired. "Who is Oltmans to inform him!" Sharan questioned, rightly pointing that it's only SAI that can hand HI coaches a pink slip.
Amid all this, Van Ass also said that he would be keen to continue in his job provided there is no interference in his work.
"If I am asked to return, I would be ready to do that. But before that, there have to be lots of discussions. I don't want anyone to interfere in the processes I put in place while coaching India," Van Ass, who is currently at home in Rotterdam, said.
In case what Van Ass is saying, that Batra has fired him, proves to be right, it will be interesting to see what stand SAI takes since HI can't fire their coaches who are employed by SAI.
That will put a question mark on Batra's position, who has always been criticised for his dictatorial administration at HI.
The terms of Van Ass's employment will also have to be looked upon, which includes a one-month notice from either side before discontinuation of service.
In that light, Harbinder Singh, who will chair the meeting of the Special Committee comprising former Olympians and internationals, will have a lots on his plate; but the strings, it seems, will remain with Batra who has always got his way with coaches - be it Jose Brasa, Michael Nobbs, Terry Walsh and now Van Ass.
But if SAI were to conclude that Van Ass must be sacked, then the response of Van Ass will be equally interesting.
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