Hockey team demands Rs 5 lakh to play for charity?

New Delhi, Feb 20: Days ahead of the World Cup, Indian Hockey team finds itself in the middle of yet another controversy as reports of the team demanding as much as Rs 5 crore to play charity matches emerge.

The team was scheduled to play charity matches against Bollywood and TV celebrities on Saturday, Feb 20 in Chandigarh.

Hours before the game, media reports saying that the team demanded Rs 5 crore to play for charity surfaced.

"All this while they told us that they would come and play but today they refused. They are blackmailing us and asking Rs 5 crore to play," match organiser is quoted as saying in CNN IBN report.

However, the team has denied the allegations.

“Our only motive is to promote Indian hockey. And this is the sole reason we have decided to play charity matches at Chandigarh," a senior member of the national team, Prabjot Singh told Zee News.

Besides this, there are also questions as to why the team was playing such matches ahead of the World Cup and putting themselves at the risk of injuries.

OneIndia News