PANAJI: Would India have won their only World Cup had TV referrals been used in hockey way back in 1975 in Kuala Lumpur, or for that matter their last of eight Olympic gold medals at 1980 Moscow Games?

We will never know but the FIH’s resort to technology – with the TV team referrals explained on its website on Monday – promises to avoid decisions that could wrongly swing the outcome of a match.

The Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH) announced the trial of an updated video umpire system at the Champions Trophy, which will take place in Melbourne (Australia) from November 28 to December 5 this year.

Currently, match umpires may refer decisions to the video umpire when in doubt about awarding or disallowing goals. The trial during the Champions Trophy will extend that facility to the teams, each of which would be allowed to avail of one referral during the match (including any extra-time and penalty stroke contests). If a referral is upheld, the team going for the referral will get to make another appeal.

So, Ashok Kumar’s famous goal in 1975 against Pakistan, which helped India wrest the World Cup when few among the 70,000 crowd believed the ball had crossed the goalline, and Mohammed Shahid’s thunderous shot in Moscow, much to the chagrin of a fighting Spain who claimed the forward had ‘carried’ the ball before scoring, may not have stood.

The Pakistanis and the Spanish would surely have found the team referrals a boon. The final score was 2-1 in Kuala Lumpur and 4-3 in Moscow.

The team referrals trial will be restricted to decisions within the 23-metre areas relating to the award (or non-award) of goals, penalty strokes and penalty corners but would exclude personal penalty cards.

Only the captain can request a team referral and must indicate his intention to the umpire immediately after the incident or the decision which is to be referred. The umpire, a la cricket, will relay the necessary information by radio to the video umpire who will follow the usual procedure.

Ten radical rule changes in hockey:

– Self-pass as option to free-hit (2009)
– The no off-side rule (1996)
– Rolling substitution (1992)
– Modified obstruction rule (1992)
– Permitting the drag-flick (1989)
– Partial no offside rule (1987)
– Abolishing the hand-stop during penalty corners (1982)
– Permitting the hit-in from sidelines (1981)
– Abolishing the bully-off to start match (1981)
– Reducing the penalty stroke range from 8 yards to 7 yards(1975).