The ruckus that unfolded after the Steelers were awarded their fourth strike off a penalty corner will be what this final will stay infamous for.
CHANDIGARH: Orissa Steelers beat Sher-e-Jalandhar 4-3 to claim this edition of the PHL on Monday. But that will stay just a footnote to the final. The ruckus that unfolded after the Steelers were awarded their fourth strike off a penalty corner in the 55th minute of the match will be what this final will stay infamous for.
Umpire Satinder Sharma cautioned the Sher defenders for their repeated charging down the field and then signalled for the hit to be taken. For some reason — the Sher players claim that it was on account of one of their defenders being ahead of the goalline — Dilip Tirkey’s hit met a Sher defence that was found staring towards the umpire instead of focusing on defending their goal. As Sharma signalled in favour of Steelers, pandemonium broke out with Sher-e-Jalandhar players roughing up the umpire.
Usual offender Kanawalprit Singh — who had smashed Deepak Thakur’s face in a domestic tournament in January 2005 — was the first to shove the umpire. Goalkeeper Kammaldeep followed next and then Tejbir Singh charged in to deliver another push.
Satinder Sharma stormed off the pitch and refused to come back. Subsequently, the match was held up for 26 minutes as the reserve umpire came on and the match progressed with the Steelers ahead 4-3. The goal stood but the Sher players were not disciplined for their behaviour with the expected red cards.
Lending perspective to the whole issue, Maurits Hendriks said the goal stood only after repeated examination of the replay and that the umpire was technically correct in his decision. He also added that it was prudent on the part of the tournament director to decide against awarding red cards as that would have added fuel to a volatile situation.
“I have never seen such disgraceful conduct ever during a hockey match. The umpire is one of the best not just in India but in the world. He may well have taken the right decision to walk off as his presence would have agitated the Sher players. It was an emotional decision by him,” Hendriks added.
Olympian Ajit Pal Singh was aghast at the behaviour of the players from Punjab. “They are giving a bad name to Punjab hockey and are proving to be bad losers. This kind of conduct is unforgivable,” Ajit Pal said.
Punjab players have been repeatedly hassling umpires and their opponents with the IHF doing little to control them in the past. Perhaps this incident will serve as another reminder of the possibility of a sport morphing into hooliganism if the rules are twisted to suit the needs of a particular segment.
In light of Monday’s scenes on the field, Pakistan player Salman Akbar’s question as to whether players from Punjab keep getting away with criminal behaviour only because Punjabis seem to control Indian hockey, assumes fresh significance.
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