Hockey India comes down heavily on players and officials for disciplinary indiscretions

The Hockey India disciplinary board terminated some players and officials on grounds of misconduct on Tuesday.

They came to this unanimous decision after reviewing a series of incidents and have imposed bans on the concerned individuals sending out a clear message of intent to others that they won’t be tolerating any such nonsense again in the near future.

Former national team goalkeeper Devesh Chauhan had earlier accused umpire G.S. Sangha of abusing him on the pitch during a semifinal match between Uttar Pradesh and Air India in Lucknow. While he had appealed for a foul against his team, Sangha responded with inappropriate words.

RV Shelar, who was was the director of the tournament, immediately dismissed these claims suggesting that the skipper was trying to get back at him because of a grudge that he held from a past matter that might have taken place in the Surjit Memorial hockey tournament.

Failing to appear in front of the board members, they have been charged on the basis of making false allegations and a ban of three months has been inflicted on both of them staring April 1, 2014.

Another incident involving the women’s Madhya Pradesh Hockey Academy team was awaiting judgement as 18 players had walked off for about a duration of 40 to 50 seconds during a match against Odisha in the 4th Hockey India Senior Women’s National Championship in Bhopal. The verdict went against the 18 players as they were forcibly sidelined for a month. Coach Paramjit Singh and manager Usha Nimbalkar, who were also suspended for two months for disregarding the HI code of conduct, will serve a probation period of one year effective from October 1.

Umpire P. Anupama was also imposed with a two month ban. The official’s disregard towards the umpire’s uniform coupled with improper behaviour during a semifinal match of the National junior women’s championship at Mysore was found punishable in the eyes of the committee.

A 30 day time-span has been given to the players and officials to appeal against the decisions in front of the Hockey India Athletes Dispute and Grievance Redressal Committee.