BANGALORE: Fresh controversy has surrounded the Indian men's hockey team's entry for the Commonwealth Games to be held in Glasgow later this year, with the organizers denying accreditation to defender Harbir Singh Sandhu without offering proper explanation.

Commonwealth Games Association (CGA) relations manager Robert Vergouw, in a March 10 communiqué to Indian Olympic Assocation (IOA) president N Ramachandran and secretary Rajeev Mehta, stated that the 23-year-old defender's request for accreditation had to be refused 'due to a UK Home Office Background Check result.' Harbir's name figured in the 28-member provisional list of men's hockey team for the event.

The IOA re-sent Sandhu's passport and driving licence details to Vergouw but were told that the information was the same as the one the CGA had got earlier. "... Mr Sandhu will not be able to be accredited for the XX Commonwealth Games due to reason more substantial than lack of the appropriate identification," Vergouw explained.

An incensed Hockey India (HI) is now contemplating asking IOA to withdraw the team from the Games as a sign of protest. "This is an insult to budding Indian athletes and should not be accepted quietly and as a routine matter," HI secretary general Narinder Batra said. "No reason is being given. He is a young budding athlete and a good prospect for the 2016 Olympics. He has travelled with the Indian team earlier on tours. I will take up this issue with the HI executive board on March 29."

A resident of Gumtala in Amritsar, Sandhu was a promising talent in the junior national squad and was a member of the team that won the Singapore International Hockey Challenge Cup in 2007. Five years later, the fullback made his debut as the youngest player in the Indian senior team in the 34th FIH Champions Trophy and the Lanco International Super Series against Australia held in Melbourne.