FIH suspends 2 Pakistani hockey players for indecent behaviour

December 14, 2014

Bhubaneswar, Dec 14: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) today suspended two Pakistani players Amjad Ali and Mohammad Tousiq from playing in the Champions Trophy final after they were found guilty of making obscene gestures towards spectators following their semi-final win against India.

pakHockey India's imminent threat of boycotting all FIH events scheduled to be held in India during the next few calender years made the world hockey's governing body reverse their earlier decision of just letting the players with official reprimand.

According to the release issued by FIH, a third Pakistani player Shafaqt Rasool, got away with official reprimand. All the three players have accepted their guilt.

Amjad and Tousiq were guilty of making obscene gestures with their middle fingers towards a packed gallery, an action that has been photographed and is now documented.

"After the conclusion of the semi-final match between India and Pakistan, Amjad Ali was seen making obscene body gestures that are considered to be obscene, the evidence of which surfaced after the initial statement was issued on 14 December at midnight," the FIH said in a statement.

"Amjad Ali accepts the breach of the code of conduct. The attitude of the team member at the hearing was good, with Pakistan tendering a written apology to the community of hockey. The seriousness of the offence falls within Level 1 of FIH rules and regulations and according to the Code of Conduct of Level 1 offence one match suspension is imposed on Ali Amjad.

"He is suspended for the next match that Pakistan will play in the relevant tournament," the statement further read.

The FIH further said that Tousiq committed the same offence and has been handed out the same punishment as Ali.

"Tousiq was seen making gestures that are considered to be obscene (raising the middle finger to spectators on the stands) whose evidence surfaced after the initial statement was issued on 14 December at midnight," it stated.

Even Tousiq accepted that he breached the code of conduct. "Muhammad Tousiq accepts the breach of the code of conduct. According to the Code of Conduct Level-1, Muhammad Tousiq is suspended for the next match that Pakistan will play in the relevant tournament," the FIH said.

Incidentally, Rasool got away with just a reprimand for committing the same offence as Tousiq, but what against the latter were the two yellow cards which he received so far in the tournament.

"After the conclusion of the semi-final match between India and Pakistan, Rasool was seen making gestures that are considered to be obscene (raising the middle finger to spectators on the stands). Shafqat Rasool accepts the breach of the code of conduct. So, according to the Code of Conduct Level, and within the level High Decision has been given an official reprimand," the world body said.

The punishments came after Hockey India today took a strong objection to FIH's "feeble" action towards Pakistani players indecent behaviour and decided not to host any FIH events in India until and unless the world body hands out a strong punishment to the offenders of this shameless incident.

Soon after their 4-3 win over India, Pakistani players went into a frenzy mode and started celebrating their victory in a wild fashion. They started dancing in jubilation.

They removed their shirts, used foul language and made obscene gestures towards the crowd and media, prompting their coach Shahnaz Sheikh to come into action and take away his players.

Tournament Director Wiert Doyer, who was asked to carry out an inquiry into the matter, then spoke to Pakistani camp and said later the FIH is satisfied with their apology and so "no action was unwarranted".

Meanwhile, Pakistan coach Shahnaz Sheikh today condemned the "shameless" behavior of his players and said his wards' conduct were "unacceptable" to the entire hockey community.

"The incident that occurred after the match between India and Pakistan contained behavior that is considered unacceptable to Pakistan Hockey Federation and the entire hockey community. As a result, I have spoken to my team and explained to them that they are guests in India and as hosts they (India) have been very hospitable to the team.

"Our opinion is that the behavior of a few of our players should not have occurred," Sheikh said in a statement, which was handed out to the media by FIH Compitions Committee member Kenneth Reid.

"In addition, I have written to the Tournament Director Mr Wiert Doyer and sincerely apologized for the behavior of a few players in my team," he said. Sheikh also said that PHF too condemns such a behavior of the players.

"I have also spoken with the President and Secretary General of Pakistan Hockey Federation who both agree that the behavior was not acceptable and they would also submit their regrets to Hockey India and the Indian public," he said.

"I hope that in the true spirit of the game everyone will accept our sincere apologies that is given without any reservations," the coach concluded.

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Agencies
January 16,2020

New Delhi, Jan 16: Veteran cricketer Mithali Raj was on Thursday demoted to Grade B from A in the BCCI central contracts while Radha Yadav and Taniya Bhatia were elevated to the middle bracket.

Mithali not being kept in the Rs 50 lakh category was expected as the 37-year-old retired from T20s in September last year. However, she remains the ODI captain and plans to carry on till the 2021 World Cup.

T20 skipper Harmanpreet Kaur retained his A category contract alongside Smriti Mandhana and Poonam Yadav.

Radha and Taniya, who both had a Grade C contract worth Rs 10 lakh last year, have now entered Grade B (Rs 30 lakh).

Players getting a central contract for the first time are 15-year-old opener Shafali Verma and Harleen Deol, who like the teenager is an attacking batter.

Shafali has attracted a lot of attention ever since making her India debut last year. She recently made 124 against Australia A in Brisbane. The opener will be expected to deliver in the upcoming T20 World Cup Down Under.

Dropped from the list is Mona Meshram, who was in Grade C last year and hasn't played a single game in recent times.

The latest contracts run from October 2019 to September 2020.

Grade A (Rs 50 lakh): Harmanpreet Kaur, Smriti Mandhana, Poonam Yadav.

Grade B (Rs 30 lakh): Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami, Ekta Bisht, Radha Yadav, Taniya Bhatia, Shikha Pandey, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma.

Grade C (Rs 10 lakh): Veda Krishnamurthy, Punam Raut, Anuja Patil, Mansi Joshi, D Hemlatha, Arundhati Reddy, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Pooja Vastrakar, Harleen Deol, Priya Punia, Shafali Verma.

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News Network
July 6,2020

Karachi, Jul 6: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq has said that questions will be raised if Indian Premier League is slotted in the window allotted to ICC T20 World Cup in Australia, which in all likelihood will be cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The ICC is yet to decide the fate of the T20 World Cup in Australia which is scheduled to take place from October 18 to November 15.

"There are rumors that the World Cup was clashing with the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Australia-India series, therefore, it (T20 World Cup) won't take place," Inzamam said in his YouTube channel on Sunday.

"The Indian board is strong and has control in the International Cricket Council (ICC). If Australia says that we cannot hold the World Cup because of the Covid-19 pandemic, then their stance will be easily accepted, but if any such kind event happens during the same time, then questions will be raised," he said.

The 50-year-old former batsman, who has scored 8,830 runs in 120 Tests and 11,739 runs in 378 ODIs for Pakistan, further said, "People will think, if a country could host 12 to 14 teams (16 teams), then why the ICC could not look after the teams, after all Australia is such an advanced country.

"Another thing is the ICC should not be allowed to give priority to private leagues (IPL) on international cricket. This will lead to young players forcing on private leagues other than international matches."

The former coach, however, agreed that it is not easy to host 16 nations during the T20 World Cup.

"Australia can say that it was difficult for it to manage 18 teams (16) for the mega event as it is not easy. Likewise, the Pakistan team was in England in a hotel and all the facilities were being provided there, therefore, it has not been easy to manage 18 teams (16)," he said.

The fate of Asia Cup which PCB will be hosting in a neutral country for security reason is also an issue as no one knows the fate of the tournament originally scheduled in September.

Inzamam said: "I have also heard that objections are also raised on the dates of the Asia Cup as it is clashing with some other event.

"The ICC, the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) and all cricket boards should sit together and give a strong message that any such kind of impression (giving priority to private leagues instead of international cricket), won't take place," he said.

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News Network
May 26,2020

Mumbai, May 26: Former Pakistan pacer Shoaib Akhtar said that if he was playing currently he and Virat Kohli would have been the best of friends off the field, but real enemies whenever they stepped on the field.

Akhtar also said that he would have liked to challenge Kohli to drive the ball.

"Virat Kohli and I would have been the best of friends as both of us are Punjabi, but on the field, we would have been the best of the enemies. I would have loved to get inside the head of Kohli. I would have told him that you cannot play a cut or pull shot against me," Akhtar told Sanjay Manjrekar in a videocast hosted by ESPNCricinfo.

"I would have gone wide of the crease and bowled a ball that would go away from him, I would have forced him to drive the ball as it is his favourite shot. So I would keep forcing him to play the drive shot at my pace," he added.

Akhtar also said that he wishes that Kohli could have played against some of the top bowlers in the game.

The Rawalpindi Express said that Kohli would have enjoyed the challenge of facing bowlers like Wasim Akram, Shane Warne, and Waqar Younis.

"I would also keep talking to him, because if I get him to lose his focus then that would have been great. The great thing about Kohli is that he gets more focused when he is challenged. But I believe Virat Kohli would have still scored the same amount of runs if I was playing," Akhtar said.

"I really wish that he had played against Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Shane Warne, and then Virat would have also enjoyed the challenge," he added.

Akhtar played 224 matches for Pakistan in international cricket and took 444 wickets across all formats.

Over the years, comparisons between Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar have been growing and many have picked the current Indian skipper to break the records set by Tendulkar.

Tendulkar called time on his career after registering 100 international centuries, while Kohli has 70 centuries across all formats.

Currently, Kohli is ranked at the top spot in the ICC ODI rankings while he is in second place in the Tests rankings.

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