The management of Pakistan’s hockey team has come under scrutiny after the team was penalized for sending off six players instead of the permitted five during their five-a-side international match against India in Muscat, Oman.The incident happened on Friday shortly after the start of the match, when the umpires noticed that Pakistan had six players on the field. Under the rules of the five-a-side format, only five players are allowed.The umpires immediately penalized Pakistan by sending off two players, reducing the team to just three players on the field. India made full use of the numerical advantage and defeated arch-rivals Pakistan 7-3.The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) acting president was unhappy after learning about the incident and sought an explanation from the team’s 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 occurred because some players did not understand the communication from the coaching staff, the PTI report said.This is not the first time that Pakistan has faced such a problem in an international tournament.During the 2022 Men’s Hockey Asian Cup in Jakarta, Pakistan made a similar mistake in a qualifying match against Japan. His late equalizer was disallowed after the referees found that Pakistan had 12 players instead of the allowed 11 on the field.That result denied Pakistan qualification for the 2023 Hockey World Cup, and then coach Khawaja Junaid was banned for life by the Pakistan Hockey Federation.The ban was later lifted, and Junaid is now back as part of the senior team management.