 "Paris Olympics 2024: Hockey India lodges official complaint against ‘quality of umpiring’ vs Great Britain")
Hockey India slammed the “quality of umpiring and decision-making” in the Paris Olympics quarter-final against Great Britain at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium on Sunday after the Harmanpreet Singh-led Indian team pulled off a remarkable victory on penalties despite being a player down.
**Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more**Two days after producing one of their best attacking displays in recent months in their historic victory over Australia, the Indians put up a defensive masterclass against Britain on Sunday to advance to the semi-finals and inch closer to a second successive Olympic medal.
India defeated Britain 4-2 on penalties after holding them to a 1-1 draw at the end of full time. This despite the Indians playing with 10 men for a majority of the match after defender Amit Rohidas was shown a red card in the second minute of the second quarter.
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The Indian defence blocked waves of British attacks in the remainder of the contest, especially during the last 10 minutes of the final quarter with veteran goalkeeper PR Sreejesh, who is set to retire after the Paris Games, making a series of acrobatic saves. Sreejesh would then successfully block twice in the shootout while the Indians scored in each of their four attempts to
However, once the celebrations over India’s victory died down, Hockey India raised concerns over the officiating in the quarter-final clash and called for a review.
“This is to inform you that Hockey India has officially raised concerns about the quality of umpiring and decision-making in the ongoing Paris Olympic Games 2024 (Men’s tournament). The complaint focuses on a critical match between India and Great Britain, where several inconsistencies in officiating potentially influenced the game’s outcome,” read a statement from HI in a release shared on Sunday.
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HI raised objections regarding inconsistent video umpire reviews, particularly with regards to the red card that was shown to Rohidas in the second quarter, which they felt “eroded trust in the video review system”.
The Dilip Tirkey-led body also expressed unhappiness over British goalkeeper Ollie Payne getting coaching advice from behind the goalpost during the shoot-out and also getting to use an iPad in the same shootout.
“These incidents have undermined confidence in the officiating process among players, coaches, and fans. Hockey India calls for a thorough review of these matters to uphold the integrity of the sport and ensure fair play in future matches,” Hockey India added in its release.
According to former India midfielder Viren Rasquinha, who is part of JioCinema’s panel of experts for Paris Games as their hockey expert, a hearing on Rohidas will take place later on Sunday. Rohidas is to serve a one-match ban after his red-card, but the Tournament Director will take a final call on the matter after the hearing.
“Hearing on Amit Rohidas will be tonight. Likely to serve 1 match ban. But Tournament Director will take final call after reviewing incident.
India will start with 11 players in the SF. If Amit suspended for SF, then we play with 15 member squad & not 16,” Rasquinha said in a post on X.
To all 🇮🇳 hockey fans:
— Viren Rasquinha (@virenrasquinha) August 4, 2024
Hearing on Amit Rohidas will be tonight. Likely to serve 1 match ban. But Tournament Director will take final call after reviewing incident.
🇮🇳 will start with 11 players in the SF. If Amit suspended for SF, then we play with 15 member squad & not 16
India take on the winner of the quarter-final between Germany and Argentina in the semi-finals. The men’s semis take place on Tuesday, 6 August with the medal matches scheduled for Thursday.
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