India Hockey coach A K Bansal has expressed shock over alleged reports of match-fixing in the recent Azlan Shah tournament.

A Malaysian newspaper Malay Mail reported recently that the India-Malaysia match was "fixed" and the Malaysian Hockey Federation has filed an FIR and ordered an inquiry into the matter. It was reported that the match was fixed at the behest of Malaysian players, who had bet against themselves.

The ad-hoc committee running Indian hockey after the dissolution of the Indian Hockey Federation has said that none of the Indian players were involved in it.

This is not the first time that India and Malaysia have been drawn into a "match-fixing" controversy. Canada had alleged fixing of a qualifier match between the two sides prior to the 1992 Olympics. The International Hockey Federation had then acquitted both the teams after an inquiry.

"It will be very sad that the whole episode takes the sheen away from the performance of my boys who played wonderful hockey to finish runner-up in the Azlan Shah tournament," Bansal told a national daily.

He added that though it was a crucial match for India, the Malaysian's had earlier lost four matches and were in fact, looking a very ordinary team.

"No doubt it was a crucial match for us to qualify, but the fact that the Malaysians lost four matches before that and were a very ordinary team, is being conveniently forgotten," the coach said.

"It certainly demoralises me to hear these reports - especially considering the fact that Indian hockey is looking up in recent months. Let me make it clear that we were not even aware of such a thing leave alone being part of the ugly controversy," Bansal added.

Bansal, who is at present presiding over an Indian Junior camp for the forthcoming Asia Cup championship, where 10 members of Azlan Shah squad are also present, said the controversy had not affected the players at all.

"The players seem to be least bothered by the controversy. But, what is of concern to me is the fact that the brilliant performance of the Indians in the Azlan Shah Trophy would be undermined for no fault of my boys. That is the saddest thing," he said.

Asked about the preparations for the Junior Asia Cup, the coach said since India were the defending champions as well as the host nation, the pressure was high but he was confident of a good performance. "The focus is to keep improving in every area of the game," he added.