Coach Fulton on defender Varun’s rape case – ‘It’s a draction, not great but we have to move forward’ | Hockey News

The news of Tokyo Olympics bronze medall Varun Kumar being accused of rape is a ‘draction’ and is ‘challenging’, chief coach Craig Fulton said. However, he said the team has a plan in place ‘on how we go’ without him in the months leading up to the Olympics.
Varun was supposed to be a part of the team for the Pro League matches starting Saturday in Odisha but left the group after an FIR was filed against him in Bengaluru last Tuesday. The defender, who is a drag flick option too for his side, is exploring legal options to tackle the allegation, which he described as a “calculated attempt to extort money” from him, reported PTI.
Speaking on the issue on the eve of India’s first match of the competition against Spain, Fulton said: “If you take it from the outside-in, of course it’s a challenging situation but at the same time, you’ve got a level of professionalism. From a staff point of view, we have to have our plans in place.

“So, if you took it as an injury, someone now is injured. What would you do? What are the plans in place in the event of an injury? So, Varun is not here. What is the plan? There always is a plan for anyone that gets injured for a long time… (be it) striker, midfield or defender. So we’re going on the level of professionalism we have in the group, the values that we hold. It’s a draction, it’s challenging, it’s not great. But we have to move forward, we have a plan in place on how we go.”
India will need to add drag-flick options to back up captain Harmanpreet Singh as Fulton looks to finalise his group heading to Paris. “These are the last series of matches in India ahead of the Olympics. So, this is a good chance for us to try and improve further. We play some good matches here, so we have to see how we utilise this opportunity and how to prepare of the Olympic Games,” the coach said.