Sjoerd Marijne, Indian women's hockey team coach has been appointed as the chief coach of Indian men's hockey team, Union sports minister Rajyavardhan Rathore announced on Twitter on Friday.
Roelant Oltmans was removed as men's hockey team coach last week despite a largely successful stint of four-and-a-half years.
India has always been a difficult place to work for foreign hockey coaches due to difference of opinion with national federations and bureaucratic hurdles.
In the past, renowned coaches like Australian Ric Charlesworth, Spaniard Jose Brasa, Micheal Nobbs, Terry Walsh and Paul van Ass were shown the door unceremoniously even before the completion of their tenures.
In February Hockey India (HI) hired the services of Dutchmen Marijne and Eric Wonink as the chief coach and analytical coach for the national women's team till the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Marijne previously served as the chief coach of the all-conquering Dutch women's team which was bested by Britain in the 2016 Olympic final.
Marijne, who has played for The Netherlands, also coached the Dutch Under-21 women's side to the World Cup title as well as the senior side to the gold medal at the Hockey World League (HWL) Semi Finals in 2015.
Between 2011-2014, he was the head coach for the Netherlands Under-21 men's team.
(With agency inputs)
