Australia's Reid set to be appointed India's new men's hockey coach

New Delhi: Australian Graham Reid is set to be named the Indian men's hockey team chief coach till the 2022 World Cup after the national federation and the Sports Authority of India gave their go ahead to fill the position lying vacant for nearly three months.

Reid's name was finalised in a meeting between Hockey India and SAI officials on Tuesday. He was picked over a number of candidates, including Jay Stacy, another Australian and a three-time Olympic medallist.

Reid's name has been forwarded to the Sports Ministry for a final approval and according to a source in the ministry, an official announcement would be made by the end of this week.

"Reid's contract is expected to be till 2022 but as has been case in the past, the NSF will review his performance after every tournament," the source said.

The Indian men's team is without a chief coach after the unceremonious sacking of Harendra Singh in January following a less-than-impressive quarter-final exit at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar last year.

A veteran of 130 international matches, Reid was a member of the Australian team that won the silver medal in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. A disciple of the legendary Ric Charlesworth, Reid was his assistant in the Australian team for five years before being elevated to the top position in 2014.

He was Australia's coach at the 2016 Rio Olympics but quit after the Kookaburras failed to finish on the podium.

In 2017, Reid took up the post of head coach of his former club Amsterdam as well as assistant coach of the Netherlands team. But earlier this month, he was dismissed as Amsterdam coach following which speculations started about him taking up the India job.

The ministry official said that Sports Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, who returned to the national capital on Tuesday night after campaigning in Rajasthan for the upcoming general election, will give his nod by this week.

"The Sports Minister is very busy with the general elections and a decision in this regard is expected to be taken at the Sports Secretary level after discussions with the Minister," the official said.