India fired the first foreign coach of their men's hockey team barely five months after his controversial appointment before the Athens Olympics.

Germany's Gerhard Rach was axed after the team slumped to fourth in the elite six-nation Champions Trophy which ended in Lahore, Pakistan on Sunday.

"Rach was only a short-term arrangement. He has no value to continue," Indian Hockey Federation secretary K Jothikumaran told Reuters on Monday.

Rach was surprisingly given the job a month before the Olympics in August after former defender Rajinder Singh was abruptly removed.

India, winners of eight Olympic gold medals, slumped to seventh in the competition, however, amid reports of rows between the coach and senior players.