Janneke Schopman, chief coach of the Indian women's hockey team, resigned from her post on Friday. This comes a few days after she alleged gender discrimination in Indian hockey, saying it is 'extremely difficult as a woman'.
Hockey India, in a statement, said that she had submitted her resignation to Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey after the conclusion of the team's games in the home leg of the FIH Pro League in Odisha.
Schopman had a colourful reign at the helm of the team, winning medals at major multi-sport events, failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics, failing to impress at the World Cup, and having a mixed relationship with players: For instance, Rani Rampal, one of Indian women hockey's greatest, was excluded from the team by Schopman.
After taking over the team from Sjoerd Marijne (under whom she served as an assistant coach), Schopman led India to bronze medal finishes at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou. She also led India to a bronze medal finish in the 2021-22 FIH Pro League and won the FIH Nation's Cup in 2023.
Earlier this year, she was in charge at a rather disastrous Olympic qualification tournament campaign where India, despite being favourites, finished fourth and missed the ticket to Paris 2024.
Despite that loss, Tirkey had told ESPN a couple of weeks ago that no decision had been taken on a change of coach. "Now Pro League matches are happening and there are more matches in May. We'll see, we haven't decided yet," he had said. However, this was before the outburst on Sunday from Schopman.
Hockey India ended their statement on Schopman's resignation with a vague sentence: "It is time to begin a fresh chapter in Indian women's hockey with the players progress being at the centre of our focus."