Shivendra Singh gets a three-match ban

Sports Reporter

NEW DELHI: India striker Shivendra Singh has been handed a three-match suspension for “deliberately raising the stick” and causing “physical assault without serious injury” to Pakistan player Fareed Ahmed during Sunday’s league match in the Hero Honda FIH World Cup tournament.

The Indian team has appealed against the decision. A jury will review the incident and a verdict is expected on Tuesday.

If the decision is upheld, Shivendra will miss the matches against Australia (Tuesday), Spain (Thursday) and England (Saturday).

“Shivendra stated that he had no intention to hit Fareed and just wanted to run faster and for that held the stick in both the hands,” Tournament Director Ken Read said on Monday.

Read rejects argument

“I reject this argument. There was no need for the stick to be lifted. I find the stick was deliberately raised and that the behaviour of Shivendra was reckless as to the safety of Fareed,” said Read, while mentioning that it was a Level-2 offence. Read justified his action, saying, “the ball was on the ground and the players were off the ball, plus or minus five feet. There was absolutely no reason to raise the stick.”

The Tournament Director said it invited more than the minimum penalty of a two-match suspension.

“A four-match suspension is appropriate, but given the history of the player (he has not got a single card in 110 games), I consider that a three-match suspension is appropriate,” the Aussie said.

Asked why the on-field umpires had not taken action, Read said it was not noticed on the ground. Read said he interacted with the Indian and Pakistani players before reaching the decision.

Meanwhile, the Tournament Director has suspended Pakistan’s Irfan Muhammad for one match for wearing a glove, which was against FIH regulations, during Sunday’s match.

India coach Jose Brasa defended Shivendra and said the whole team was sad and expected a reduction in the penalty. He added that Pakistan had not complained about the incident.

Brasa shocked

Brasa was shocked with the heavy penalty. “I have never seen a three-match penalty in my life. It is a huge punishment. A three-match suspension means half of the World Cup gone for a stupid thing which he did not do on purpose. We will have 15 players for the next three matches and one player short against Australia will be tough,” said Brasa.

If the Tournament Director had the intention of sending a signal to other sides why had he chosen India, he asked. Brasa said the players had to focus on the next game keeping their emotions in check.

“After beating Pakistan, there is too much of euphoria. Our job is to put their feet on the ground. We are working to maintain the intensity with which the team beat Pakistan,” he said.