Last week the national governing body asked the Indian Olympic Association (IOA) to pull the men's hockey team from the competition after Harbir had been denied accreditation for the Games following background checks by the UK Home Office.

However, it has now been revealed that Harbir has been denied a visa on three other occasions - once for a job permit in 2008, a year later for higher studies and then for the London 2012 Olympics, information the player had allegedly tried to keep from Hockey India.

The first two rejections were because of faulty paperwork, while the third was under similar circumstances to those seen now, where he was among the 32 hopefuls for the Summer Games.

"We carried out our internal investigation and found out that Harbir's visa application has been rejected twice before," a Hockey India official said.

"The player had not informed us about this earlier.

"The IOA checked its past records and found out that Harbir's visa for the London Games was also denied due to a background check result, just as it is now."

Harbir Singh Sandhu had been in a similar situation in 2012 when his accreditation was rejected for the London 2012 Olympic Games following background checks by the UK Home Office ©Getty Images


Following the revelation, and after a Hockey India Executive meeting in New Delhi, an official from the body said it will now not request withdrawal from the Commonwealth Games.

"We will now have no option but to go by what the IOA says regarding the matter," the official said. 

Despite the claims that he eventually told Hockey India officials of his previous visa rejections, Harbir has reportedly said that he did not provide any information to the organisation, nor did he receive any intimation about their investigation.

"I don't know what they have decided," he told Daily News and Analysis India.

"I never spoke to any Hockey India official.

"It will be better if you ask Hockey India, as I have been told to only concentrate on the national camp."

He added that he was still confident Hockey India will continue to back him.

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