National coach Arul Selvaraj is peeved that his wish for his players to train at the National Hockey Stadium in Bukit Jalil has hit the wall.
A call to the National Sports Council (NSC) yesterday revealed that his charges would have to stay at home and conduct physical training around their housing estates or go to the nearest parks to sweat it out.
"I really don't understand what is going on because parks and shopping complexes are still open to the public while the stadium in Bukit Jalil is only for national trainees.
"Isn't it safer for my players (as well as national junior and women's teams) to train at the stadium where the public is barred from entering?
"Jogging and sweating it out in parks with the public is more dangerous, don't you think?" questioned Arul.
A visit to the Pudu Ulu park and Taman Tasik Perdana, which are opened to the public, had people jogging, walking and working out yesterday.
"There should be more standard and rational rules as I have a tournament coming up in a few months.
"I need the players with me, not train them online.
"I am still hoping this stadium rule will be relaxed soon. For now, I have given my players instructions on what to do on their own," said a baffled Arul.
The only senior international tournament left this year is the Asian Champions Trophy (ACT) in Dhaka on Oct 1-10.
As for the national men and women's junior teams, they need to prepare for the Junior Asia Cup (JAC) tournaments, which are qualifiers for the Junior World Cups.
Although the JAC tournaments have been moved many times because of Covid-19, the players need to be kept on their toes while waiting for the Asian Hockey Confederation (AHF) to announce suitable dates.
The men's ACT was supposed to be held in Dhaka on March 11-19, while the women's event was to be in Donghae, South Korea on March 31-April 6.
Both tournaments were not held last year because of the deadly virus.
The women's ACT is slated for Oct 24-31 in Donghae.
The Movement Control Order (MCO) ends on June 7, and there is no guarantee it will not be extended for another two weeks.