Pakistan to field six players in minor hockey, India ahead of embarrassing mistake
Photo credit: X/@TheHockeyIndia The management of Pakistan’s hockey team has come under scrutiny after the side was penalized for fielding six players instead of the permitted five during an international match against India in Muscat, Oman.The incident took place shortly after the start of the match on Friday when the umpires noticed that Pakistan had six players on the field. According to the rules of the tic-tac-toe format, only five players are allowed.The umpires immediately punished Pakistan by sending off two players, reducing the team to just three players on the field. India took full advantage of their numerical advantage to beat arch-rivals Pakistan 7-3.The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) interim president was unhappy after learning about the incident and sought an explanation from the team management, which includes head coach Tahir Zaman and coaches Rehan Butt, Qamar Ibrahim and Umar Bhutta, PTI reported.
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The management told the federation that the confusion arose because some players did not understand the communication from the coaching staff, a PTI report said.This is not the first time that Pakistan has faced a similar problem in an international tournament.During the 2022 Men’s Asian Cup in Jakarta, Pakistan committed a similar error in their qualifier against Japan. Their late equalizer was disallowed after the umpires found that Pakistan had 12 players instead of the permitted 11 on the field.This result denied Pakistan qualification for the 2023 Hockey World Cup, and head coach Khawaja Junaid was subsequently banned for life by the Pakistan Hockey Federation.The ban was later lifted and Junaid is now back as part of the team’s senior management.
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