Hockey India thought they had reached a compromise with the senior players but the rest of the squad rejected the deal and are refusing to train.

Narendra Batra, the treasurer of Hockey India, who was present in the meeting, claimed that the players were trying to "blackmail" the national governing before the country stages its most important tournament for nearly 30 years.

Six players, led by captain Rajpal Singh and including Prabhjot Singh, Sandeep Singh, Thushar Khandekar, Sardara Singh and Arjun Halappa, met Hockey India officials last night and, after a meeting lasting nearly four years, emerged to say that a row over of non-payment of match fees, sponsorship money and bonuses had been resolved.

But when the players presented the agreement to the remaining players at a meeting in Pune this morning it was rejected.

Prabhjot said: "We had told Hockey India officials that we will go back and discuss the agreement with our team-mates.

"They were not satisfied with the outcome.

"So, it was decided that the boycott would continue and they would not be attending the camp on Monday."

Batra was outraged.

He said: "It's shocking.

"It amounts to nothing but blackmailing by the players.

"They think they can have their way because they are preparing for the World Cup.

"We had a long meeting on Saturday and they were happy with the outcome.

"They came out in the media and said they are satisfied with the agreement.

"If they still had problems, we could have heard them out."

Hockey India had agreed to pay each player £325 as an ad-hoc payment before a final agreement was reach.

Chief coach Jose Brasa (pictured with Sandeep Singh) said that he has been informed by the players about the decision not to attend the camp.

The Spaniard said: "We came to know in the afternoon about their decision.
"They said they are not satisfied with the result of the meeting."

Brasa tried to put a brave face on preparations for the World Cup - being staged in India for the first time since 1982 - and claimed that it would not affect anything.

He said: "We are strong enough to cross every hurdle.

"They [the players] have a problem at hand and they want to solve it.

"They are also disappointed that they have to miss the training camp because they are preparing hard for the World Cup."

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