League Premier, players secondary

HYDERABAD: Forget room service and laundry, Indian players of one of the five teams in the Premier Hockey League are put up in a place where telephone is half a kilometre away.
In a ''professional'' league that boasts of a prize fund of Rs 71 lakh and has a budget of several lakh for TV broadcasts, cheerleaders and marketing blitz, these players have been put up in small hotels while the foreigners enjoy the cozy comforts of star hotels.
Worst is the plight of Chennai Veerans. Players and support staff, numbering 20, are put up in a residential complex in Madhapur on the outskirts of the city which the organisers call ''Hotel Supreme Delux Annexe.''
The three foreign players of the team — Juan Escarre of Spain and Pakistan’s Dilawar Hussain and Zeeshan Ashraf — are in a big hotel in the city''s heart.
The official word: "The Veerans are comfortable and have been provided with all necessary facilities."
What the organisers perhaps mean by facilities is a dhobi who makes an appearance when the players are either resting or are away to the ground; a food contractor who serves lunch and dinner at specific times and a security guard who doubles up as waiter when food arrives at the ‘hotel’. What more, the word ‘food’ does not include breakfast.
The living room of coach Harender Singh’s ‘suite’ serves as the conference hall for team meetings. Players have to carry chairs from their floors or the dining hall situated on the ground floor if they don’t like squatting. And every time there is a meeting, the foreigners have to travel from their hotel.
Strangely, the Veerans do not have too many complaints. "We are enjoying our stay. It''s so peaceful here. No one bothers us," said a player.
Of course, unlike cricketers, hockey players do not expect five-star treatment. But that does not mean they deserve such discrimination.