KUALA LUMPUR: Dutchman Roelant Oltmans has sent in his resignation letter to the Malaysian Hockey Confederation (MHC), dated July 31.
In a letter sent to the press, Oltmans cited Covid-19, as well as being away from his family during this pandemic period, as the main reasons.
He was hired in September 2018 after Malaysia failed to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, when they lost the Jakarta Asian Games gold medal to Japan by 17 seconds.
The letter read: "Dear Journalists, since the outbreak of the Coronavirus, I have been struggling with myself.
"I didn't feel good at all to be 12,000 km away from home in a dramatically changing world of MCOs, lockdowns, quarantine and many cancelled events all over the world.
"While it looked like about two months ago that the virus was more and more under control, in many places we've seen that the numbers are increasing again and travelling will become more difficult and could even be not permitted in many areas of the world.
"After a number of discussions with the MHC president (Datuk Seri Subahan Kamal) I've decided to resign and it was accepted in the end. To be honest we had a discussion about the notice period, and I am very grateful that the president gave me the option to leave on July 31.
"I would have loved to inform you (journalists) in person, but I had my reasons not to do so.
"I have been out of the country for about nine years (with Pakistan and India as well), and without the Covid-19 virus, I would have stayed until the end of my contract but in this uncertain situation, I had to choose my family and myself," he wrote.
Oltmans's contract was until the end of the year, and he is expected to be replaced by the coaching team of South African Paul Revington and Arul Selvaraj.