Hockey World Cup | FIH President expresses displeasure after Harendra Singh’s comments on umpiring

Harendra and Indian captain Manpreet Singh were not at all happy with the decisions of the two umpires during the crucial quarterfinal tie between India and the Netherlands on Thursday. Harendra had criticized the standard of umpiring and had mentioned about few of the decisions that went against the home team during the post-match press conference. Batra, who is also the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA), has underlined the fact that he has some very strong views on the behaviour of the Indian coach.

India’s defeat against the Dutchmen extended their 43-year long wait to get into the semifinals of a Hockey World Cup. India last won the coveted trophy way back in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur. Harendra had said after the loss that 11 Indian men were playing against 13 on the turf. 

Earlier on Saturday, FIH CEO Thierry Weil had also spoken about the incident and slammed the Indian coach terming his comments unacceptable for the world body.

"It (questioning umpires) is not acceptable. We will not review anything, what we will review is complaints made against the umpires. That is not acceptable for FIH. A level of respect has to be there. If you lose, you have to accept it and look forward," Weil had explained.