Days after Hockey India came under fire for replacing the team’s iconic blue jersey with saffron, the federation has sparked fresh controversy by sanctioning leave for women team’s chief coach Sjoerd Marijne ahead of the FIH World Cup.Marijne has been on leave since July 12 and is expected to join the team in the Netherlands on August 6. As a result, he missed the team’s preparation camp in Bengaluru and its opening practice match against Germany on Friday.The Indian team, led by Salima Tete, is currently in Heilbronn, Germany, for practice matches. From there, it will travel to the Netherlands for the final phase of preparations for the World Cup, to be co-hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands from August 14 to 30. India will play their first match against China on August 16.Interestingly, both Hockey India and the Sports Authority of India (SAI) sanctioned the chief coach’s leave, even as he is away on a personal engagement with his family. Analytical coach Matias Vila has taken charge in Marijne’s absence.Despite repeated attempts, Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey was unavailable for comment. However, former FIH and Hockey India president Narinder Batra criticised the development, calling it a non-serious approach by the federation.“First of all, he should not have been hired back after a defamation suit was filed against him for abusing the men’s team. This is a non-serious attitude. How has he taken leave now?” Batra told The Tribune on Saturday.“I have never seen such a scenario where the coach is missing before a very important tournament. Dilip Tirkey, who has over 400 caps, would know how important it is to have the coach with the team. Not sure about the wrestler (Bhola Nath Singh), who is the secretary general. How can you sanction this? Also, how has the SAI sanctioned this leave?” he added.Former skipper and junior men’s coach PR Sreejesh also questioned the timing of the leave. “My only point is that one cannot take a holiday before a major tournament. As a coach, the run-up to a tournament involves working on set-pieces, penalty-corner routines and shoot-outs, among other things. You cannot leave that to the assistant coach,” Sreejesh said.