Rift leaves slalom coach without work

NEW DELHI: They (federation) want to fire me because I want the selection procedure to be transparent.

JIMY BERCON, Slalom coach

The rift between the Indian Kayaking and Canoeing Association (IKCA) and its foreign slalom coach, Jimy Bercon, has come out in the open with the federation asking the Sports Authority of India (SAI) to terminate the Frenchman’s contract immediately as he is “not serious in his job (sic)”.

Last year, the IKCA had recommended Bercon’s name to SAI saying he was the best person to “polish the skills of (the) national slalom” team. A contract with the French expert was signed in January till 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Bercon was entitled to a monthly salary of more than $5,000 besides boarding and lodging.

But post the Asian Games in Jakarta, where the canoeing and kayaking team could not win a medal, the federation has not given Bercon a coaching assignment. While the national camp is on at Maheshwar in Madhya Pradesh, the coach is sitting idle in Bhopal. “I have no work. The federation isn’t responding to my e-mails. They want to fire me because I want the selection procedure to be transparent and the national camp to be held on a different water course so that the players (can) improve their skills. The federation top brass is unhappy with me,” said Bercon.

The Frenchman had taken a break after the Games but when he returned on October 5, he found himself “without work”.

The federation has emphasised in its communication to SAI is that the coach could not live up to his promise “of three medals at the Asian Games.”

Asked how a coach could give result in just six months, Prashant Kushwaha, IKCA secretary general, said, “we are going by the promises the coach made.”

But Bercon said he never made such promises. SAI director-general Neelam Kapur was not available for her comment.