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Ban on Shivendra reduced to two matches
Hockey India’s appeal failed to cut ice with the FIH Hockey World Cup Appeals Jury as India’s ace forward Shivendra Singh will serve a two-match ban as against three imposed on Monday, reports Saurabh Duggal.
Hockey India’s appeal failed to cut ice with the FIH Hockey World Cup Appeals Jury as India’s ace forward Shivendra Singh will serve a two-match ban as against three imposed on Monday.
Ken Read, the World Cup tournament director, had earlier imposed a stiff penalty against Shivendra for what looked like an innocuous lifting of the hockey stick, which struck Pakistan’s Fareed Ahmed above the eye, causing a small cut.
The Pakistan team management did not to take up the matter, nor did the match umpires issue a card to the forward.
A statement issued by the FIH on Monday had said: “In the 39th minute of the India-Pakistan match on Sunday, Shivendra Singh successfully jab-tackled Ahmed to advance on the counter-attack. He then lifted his stick and struck Ahmed above the eye, causing a small cut.
“Shivendra was found deliberately hitting Ahmed and as per the FIH guidelines, it’s a Level 2 offence — physical assault without serious injury. I consider that a suspension of three matches is appropriate for the offence,” Read, the tournament director (TD), had said.
A bewildered Hockey India lodged an appeal against the suspension.
On Tuesday, despite the ban being reduced, the Indian camp wasn’t pleased with the jury’s decision.
“It’s akin to hanging a person for a minor crime,” said captain Rajpal Singh. Shivendra missed Tuesday’s crucial match against Australia and will also cool his heels on the sidelines against Spain.
Read had earlier said that Shivendra was lucky to escape with a three-match ban. “The minimum suspension for the particular offence is two matches and it can go up to a maximum of four. But keeping in mind the past record of Shivendra, I reduced the suspension to three matches from four.” While Shivendra maintained during the hearing that he had no intention to hit Ahmed, Read said that there was no need to raise the stick. “It was a deliberate and reckless attempt.”
Finally, a three-member Appeals Jury concluded that in accordance with the FIH guidelines it was a Level 2 offence, which was reckless but not deliberate and therefore required the minimum penalty of a two-match suspension.
