Harpal Singh Bedi / New Delhi
Taking a serious note of the violent incident that rocked the final of Nehru hockey, Hockey India on Tuesday suspended players from Punjab Armed Police for a period of 12-18 months while players from Punjab National Bank for 6-12 months
The two teams were involved in a fracas during the Final of 56th Nehru Senior Hockey Tournament Hockey India League Code of conduct.
This decision was taken at a two-day Hockey India Disciplinary Committee Meeting which was chaired by Bhola Nath Singh and attended by Olympian Harbinder Singh CEO of HI Elina Norman HI president Mohd Mushtaque Ahmad, and Secretary-General Rajinder Singh,
Punjab Armed Police players Hardeep Singh and Jaskaran Singh were slapped with 18 months suspension while Dupinderdeep Singh, Jagmeet Singh, Sukhpreet Singh, Sarvanjit Singh and Balwinder Singh have been suspended for 12 months with effect from 11 December 2019 for their involvement in the Level 3 offence under Hockey India/ Hockey India League Code of Conduct.
Punjab Armed Police Team Manager Amit Sandhu was suspended for 18 months for a Level 3 offence and it was also recommended that the Punjab Police Team be placed under three months suspension and not be eligible to play in any of the All India Tournaments with effect from 10 March to 9 June 2020
Players from Punjab National Bank Sukhjeet Singh, Gursimran Singh and Sumit Toppo have been suspended for 12 months while the team skipper Jasbir Singh has been suspended for six months. Team Manager Sushil Kumar Dubey has been suspended for six months due to his team’s inability to follow the Hockey India/ Hockey India League Code of Conduct and sanctions.
It was also recommended that the Punjab National Bank Team be placed under three months suspension and not be eligible to play in any of the All India Tournaments with effect from 11 December 2020 to 10 March 2020.
After reviewing the report submitted by the Tournament Director and also having viewed the video evidence in the presence of players involved in the offence, disciplinary committee expressed great disappointment over such an incident that reflects poorly on Indian hockey.
Further it was unanimously agreed by the Committee that all the above players would be on further probation for a period of 24 months after the expiry of their sanctions and any breaches of Hockey India / Hockey India League Code of Conduct during this probation period would constitute an immediate Level 3 offence and the individual will automatically be suspended for a period of 24 months.
Players from Hockey Rajnandgaon and Hockey Bilaspur too suspended
The disciplinary committee also unanimously decided to suspend players from Hockey Rajnandgaon and Hockey Bilaspur following the on-ground violence during the recently held 4th Chhattisgarh Senior Men State Championship 2019-2020.
Hockey Rajnandgaon Captain Mithlesh Pandiya is placed under three months suspension while Sandeep Yadav, Taufik Ahmad, Sukhdev Niramalkar have been suspended for nine months.
Rajesh Nirmalkar (who also officiated as umpire) was let-off with a warning for playing and officiating in the same tournament while Sabbir Solanki, Team Manager of Hockey Rajnandgaon was placed under 3 months suspension for a Level 2 offence with effect from 10 December 2019.
Bilaspur Hockey Captain Omkar Yadav and Team Manager Ikhlak Ali have been suspended for three months for committing Level 2 offence while Louis Tirkey has been suspended for six months as he committed a Level 3 offence under the Hockey India/ Hockey India League Code of Conduct.
The Tournament Director Kishore Dihwar too was punished with a three months suspension for failing to perform his duties, Umpire Shakeel Ahmad was awarded 12 months suspension.
Further, it was unanimously agreed that all the above-involved players, officials and state member unit would be on probation for a period of 12 months after the expiry of their sanctions and any breaches of the Hockey India / Hockey India League Code of Conduct during this probation period would constitute an immediate Level 3 offence and the individual will automatically be suspended for a period of 12 months.
In another hearing, the Committee warned Hockey Jammu & Kashmir for not managing the State in proper manner in respect of Sarbat Daa Bhalla Hockey Tournament held from 20 October to 26 October in Jammu since the conduct of the tournament was in violation of the Hockey India Policy on sanctioned and unsanctioned tournaments.
All the teams and coaches who took part in the Sarbat Daa Bhalaa Hockey Tournament too faced the brunt of a 3 months sanction while the officials have been awarded 6 months sanction under the FIH/ Hockey India Policy for Sanctioned and Unsanctioned Tournaments.