Hockey WC: India's Harendra may get the sack for questioning umpires

Harendra Singh

India coach Harendra Singh did not sleep the entire night after India lost the World Cup quarter-final to the Netherlands on Thursday. He was restless, knowing his team played well but still lost one of the most important matches of their lives.

It seems now that his restlessness will continue for the next few days as his comments criticising the umpires following the loss, has not gone down well with the authorities.

FIH (International Hockey Federation) CEO Thierry Wiel said no team can be critical of umpires, who are doing a thankless job. "We are analysing the incident [Harendra's criticism of the umpires at the post-match press conference] and in a few days there will be a decision. You cannot be a bad loser," said Wiel at a press conference here on Saturday FIH president Narinder Batra was a bit more forthcoming in his response but also preferred to put off the decision-making for later. "Being FIH President, I have to follow certain protocol, but I have my strong reservations against this kind of misbehaviour.

A sport has to be played in the right spirit and one should be graceful whether you win or lose. Finding faults is very easy," said Batra adding that he would make another statement on the matter in the next couple of days. "I am here till the December 17 and will then return to Delhi. After the 17th, I will give my statement on this issue as NOC [National Olympic Committee] President," said Batra, who is also the president of the Indian Olympic Association (IOA).

According to sources, Hockey India could well be contemplating sacking Harendra in the coming days if he doesn't decide to step down himself. On Thursday, Harendra had said that his, "11 players were playing against 13 [including the two umpires]." He claimed that his team had been robbed of the World Cup and that poor umpiring had also led to his team losing to Malaysia (via shootout) at the Asian Games in Jakarta where they were expected to win nothing less than the gold.

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