The Punjab deputy Chief Minister Sukh-bir Singh Badal on Wednesday announced a cash award of Rs 25 lakh to the Indian hockey team that won the Asian Champions Trophy defeating arch rivals Pakistan 4-2 in the final on Sunday.
In a statement, Badal thanked the players by saying, “I congratulate our national heroes for bringing this rare honour to a nation starved of sporting glory. We are indeed very proud of our boys who toiled day and night to win back glory in hockey, the traditional Indian sport. I am all the more proud because seven members of the champion team belong to Punjab.”
Badal, who also holds the sports folio in the Punjab government, lashed out at the government of India for “ridiculing and humiliating” the hockey heroes by announcing a “petty award” of Rs 25,000 which has been “justifiably turned down by the victorious boys”.
“If the Centre did not know how to honour the national heroes who turned back formidable challenges in the international arena, the least it could have done was to just let the boys go home without insulting them. We will take care of them. They are our heroes and they are heroes to the entire nation," said Badal.
Badal also said the Punjab government has taken concrete steps to boost this national sport. "We have set up seven new hockey stadium in the state, organised a four-nation hockey tournament. We propose to take it further from there and organise another international hockey tournament," he added.
