Putting the month-long saga to an end, Hockey India on Tuesday officially informed the Sports Authority of India (SAI) that they do not require the services of the Australian and will start looking for a new chief coach for the national team.

In an email to SAI director general Jiji Thomson, Hockey India president Narinder Batra dismissed Walsh’s contention that his issues with USA Field Hockey were settled as ‘false and incorrect.’ Citing a USA Field Hockey’s internal report, Batra had accused Walsh of financial misconduct during his tenure as their technical director.

In a software-related issue, Batra alleged that Walsh committed an impropriety to the tune of $176,000. Even though the firm along with whom Walsh developed the software has refuted the claims, the Australian has failed to provide a proper justification.

“We have received a mail from Hockey USA as confidential and as per that mail the issue of financial irregularity by Mr Walsh in USA is not settled even as of today, hence his contention that his issue with USA was settled in 2012 is false and incorrect,” Batra wrote in his email to SAI.

He further said that Walsh was ‘beating around the bush’ instead of proving his innocence. “Mr Walsh has been given sufficient time to clarify on the financial irregularity issue in USA and instead he tried to beat around the bush. Hockey India now does not require services of Mr Terry Walsh and will look for a new chief coach with prior approval of SAI,” he wrote.

Batra also accused Walsh of showing ‘no concern’ for the team after he refused to stay back for the Champions Trophy despite the federation’s request. “(sic) Regarding his showing commitment for players, I had in presence of HI CEO and Mr (Roelant) Oltmans offered full salary for one month after 19 November, 2014, to Terry Walsh to stay on with the Indian team till Champions Trophy (but this was prior to the issue of USA Hockey coming to our notice) and he refused to stay back,” Batra wrote.

‘Eager to return’

On Monday, Walsh had written a letter to sports minister Sarbananda Sonowal, saying he was ready to return immediately and resume his duties with the national team. However, with Hockey India shutting the door, Walsh’s otherwise successful tenure has finally come to an abrupt and controversial end.

Walsh was appointed as the successor to his compatriot Michael Nobbs in October last year and even though India did not improve its ranking, the team’s performance was improving gradually. He guided the country to its first Asian Games gold in 16 years and followed it up with a first-ever test series win over Australia earlier this month. However, India came a cropper at the World Cup, finishing a disappointing ninth.

Walsh is the fourth foreign coach whose tenure in India has ended controversially, with Nobbs, Jose Brasa, Ric Charlesworth and Gerard Rach experiencing similar fate in the past.

Hockey India is not in a rush to replace Walsh. High performance director Oltmans will be in charge of the team at next month’s Champions Trophy. With no assignments lined up for the national team till mid-2015, Hockey India is expecting to appoint a new coach only by March next year, it is learnt.