Indian men's hockey defender Amit Rohidas was given a red card by the referee and was sent off during India's quarterfinal match against Great Britain at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday (August 4). Fans on social media were not pleased with this decision by the Paris Olympics 2024 officials and slammed them.
"Game needs less White referees, who have a clear, historic bias against Asian teams(have seen hockey for way too long now) & have more diversity in their referee panel. Asia & particularly India is a big market for hockey, so do not antagonise your biggest market," wrote one user.
Another user labeled this decision as "brutal" at the whole Olympics:
"Red card for Amit Rohidas will go down as the most brutal decision of this Olympics. There was no way he did that intentionally. I have watched the replay at least 10 times. And I have seen this so many times, Great Britain being supported by erroneous referee decisions. Sick."
Indian women's hockey team captain Rani Rampal also opined her views on this decision.
"Definitely not a red card for Amit Rohidas. Yes, they can award 10 min yellow card as a punishment," wrote Rani Rampal.
Last night, Nishant Dev lost his boxing quarterfinal and fans weren't happy with the decision there as well. One fan called that out as well along with the Rohidas decision.
"You can't tell me that all these white officials aren't being extremely weird with Indians all throughout the Olympics. Nishant yesterday and Amit Rohidas today. These are not even 50-50 calls," he commented.
"That is a very very harsh Red card to Amit Rohidas. That foul was not deliberate. At max it should have been a yellow," wrote one user.
In India's 3-2 win over Australia in the group stages, Abhishek's goal was disallowed, and now Amit has been given a red card. Fans aren't happy with the decisions going against India constantly. One fan wrote:
"Abhishek's goal against Australia was disallowed in the previous match, and they have given a red card to Amit Rohidas for a foul that he didn't commit intentionally in this match. This is nothing but daylight robbery."
Amit Rohidas' foul against Great Britain at the Paris Olympics 2024
India, playing with just 10 men in a knockout match, managed to hold the Great Britain to a 1-1 tie and took the game to a shoot-off. Skipper Harmanpreet Singh scored the solitary goal in a penalty corner, taking his Paris Olympics 2024 goal tally to seven.
In the first quarter, Amit Rohidas' stick struck Will Calnan in the face after which he was shown a red card. Watch Amit Rohidas' foul and red card below: