By George! It's quite the contrary..

NATIONAL team manager George Koshy, who is also Kuala Lumpur HA president, yesterday said the two-day national camp on the eve of Razak Cup will be held as planned.
    On Sunday, KLHA secretary V. Rajamanickam had said that the national camp must be called off as states’ preparations for the Razak Cup would be affected.
   The Malaysia Hockey League ends on Oct 10, and national coach Paul Revington will call up about 30 players for a two-day training on Oct 11 and 12, and the Razak Cup starts two days later.
    Rajamanickam had said: “I know that I risk being suspended by the MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation) for making this call. But the truth must be said, and I am not worried about the repercussions that might come with it.
  “The tournament starts on the 14th of October and it is ridiculous for the national coach to call for a two-day training camp which will deny the states a chance to re-group their squads.”
   However, Koshy said: “The national team’s programme would proceed as planned because it was communicated to the MHC (Malaysian Hockey Confederation) and that’s his (Rajamanickam’s) opinion as secretary of KLHA.
   “The two-day camp in Kuantan is critical to our overall preparation. The players called up have been laying tough games over five weeks and this (two-day stint) would give them a much needed recovery period,” said Koshy.
     And 1975 World Cup player K. Balasingam also called in to give his opinion on the matter.
    “I seriously don’t understand what the fuss is all about as the national coach has called for training and this would only benefit the states when their charges play in the Razak Cup.
   “Also, Rajamanickam is the KLHA secretary while his president (Koshy) is the national team manager and it looks like both of them have a communication breakdown,” said Balasingam.
   Meanwhile, the Malaysia Hockey League (MHL) technical committee stuck to their guns, when they decided yesterday that Tenaga Nasional’s Faizal Saari and Kuala Lumpur Hockey Club’s Ahmad Kazamirul are not eligible to play in the first leg semi-finals of the Premier Division after picking up demerit points in the League.
    Tenaga Nasional had protested during the semi-finals draw on Sunday as they felt the MHL competition rules were unclear on the matter of demerit points being carried forward to the knock-out stages.
    The technical committee also decided that the Division One semi-finals between Johor HA and Thunderbolts would be played at the Taman Daya Stadium in Johor to save cost.