India have been dealt a huge blow ahead of the semifinal clash against Germany in hockey at the Paris Olympics 2024. Defender Amit Rohidas has been banned for one match by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for breaking the code of conduct. Rohidas was also shown the red card by the referee during the match against Great Britain and India played with only 10 men for the majority of the quarterfinal clash.
For the unversed, Rohidas' stick hit the face of William Calnan of Great Britain in the 17th minute of the match. The umpire then showed him the red card - a rarest of rare events in hockey - that led to Rohidas going out for the rest of the game and India were down to 10 men. According to the rules, if there's a deliberate intention to hurt a player, then a red card in shown. In real-time, Rohidas' actions seemed unintentional and a yellow card seemed justified for him in case which he would've been out of action for just 10 minutes.
But the umpires thought otherwise and sent India's top defended out of the game. But now the FIH has also banned/suspended him for a match for breaking the FIH code of conduct and India are now left with only 15 players for their semifinal clash against Germany. "On 4 August 2024, Rohidas Amit was suspended for one match for a breach of the FIH Code of Conduct which occurred during match no.32 India vs Great Britain on 4th August, 2024. The suspension affects match no.35 on 6th August 2024, where Rohidas Amit will not participate, and India will play with a squad of 15 players only," the statement from FIH read.
Hockey India has now appealed against this decision and the final call on this matter will be taken by the appeal jury. The decision is expected to be made ahead of India's semifinal clash that is to be played on August 6 at 10:30 PM IST. Meanwhile, Hockey India has also officially raised concerns about the quality of umpiring and decision-making at the Olympics (in hockey) highlighting a few decisions in the India vs Great Britain match.
