Sporting encounters between India and Pakistan are always likely to get a tad spicy but things just went plain overboard on December 13, 2014, in Bhubaneswar.
It was the semi-finals of the 2014 Men’s Champions Trophy, pitting the arch-rivals against each other. Even before the match, there was already a bit of feeling going around – just three months earlier, India had defeated Pakistan in the Asian Games final, winning gold after 16 years and qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pakistan were smarting and eyeing revenge.
Interestingly, the game itself was the perfect advertisement for hockey – an enthralling, hard-fought match with plenty of goals and some dazzling play from both teams. With the game tied at 3-3, Pakistan’s Muhammad Arslan Qadir managed to find the back of the net, just one minute away from full time, to secure a famous victory for Pakistan.
Obscene celebrations
That is when things got decidedly ugly. Not just content with the win, the Pakistani players went overboard celebrating their narrow win, with some obscene behaviour directed mainly towards the shell-shocked Bhubaneswar crowd. A few of the players took off their shirts and made obscene gestures, including taunting the crowd with their fingers on their lips and showing the infamous middle-finger.
Predictably, these mindless antics served to further exacerbate the tense relations between the two countries to such an extent that they still refuses to thaw, even after almost a year has passed since the incident. Hockey India President Narinder Batra ruled out the inclusion of Pakistani players from the Hockey India League, stating that, “"I would love to have Pakistan players but not with the kind of behaviour they displayed in the Champions Trophy.” But the bigger issue seems to be the lack of an apology – according to Batra, Pakistan had not shown any “regret” for their “unacceptable behaviour.”
War of words
But back to the match in question. As can be made out from the video, the then Pakistani coach Shahnaz Sheikh immediately intervened and can be seen trying to calm his players down. Sheikh later apologised for his players’ behaviour in a press statement, supposedly saying, “The behaviour [of some of our players] was not acceptable." Initially, the International Hockey Federation, the governing body for international hockey, seemed satisfied with the apology, saying that they believed “no further action is warranted”. However, after Hockey India chief Narinder Batra showed his anger towards the decision and even threatened that India would not host any such tournaments in the future, the International Hockey Federation, made a U-turn and suspended two Pakistani players. In all fairness though, Pakistan did try and do some damage control, by coming out with flowers before the next match against Germany in the final. Unfortunately, that did little to placate the crowd who gave them a hostile reception in a match which they lost 2-0.
However, the controversy refused to die down when, a few days later, the Pakistani coach went back on his apology, claiming that it was forced upon him by the International Hockey Federation, and Hockey India. Sheikh defended his players’ behaviour and accused the International Hockey Federation, and Hockey India of conspiring against Pakistan so that they would lose the final. Interestingly enough, it seems that players themselves are over the issue with both Indian captain Sardar Singh and Sheikh saying that there were no “hard feelings” between the teams, just before another India-Pakistan clash in the World Hockey League at Belgium.
But the bad blood seems to have remained. Sheikh stepped down as coach of the Pakistan team in August, but reacted strongly to Batra’s recent statement of not allowing Pakistani players in the Hockey Indian League. Sheikh claimed that he felt Batra was a “nice man” but he was disappointed by his statement as he felt someone was “dictating him to say such things.” Adding another dash of ill-feeling, he went on to add that “Indian hockey was not able to digest the loss against Pakistan” and Pakistan would give a “fitting reply” on the hockey ground.
As it stands now, it is difficult to see either party shying away from the deadlock. What this means is that after cricket, another sport has fallen prey to the hostility between the two nations.
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It was the semi-finals of the 2014 Men’s Champions Trophy, pitting the arch-rivals against each other. Even before the match, there was already a bit of feeling going around – just three months earlier, India had defeated Pakistan in the Asian Games final, winning gold after 16 years and qualifying for the 2016 Rio Olympics. Pakistan were smarting and eyeing revenge.
Interestingly, the game itself was the perfect advertisement for hockey – an enthralling, hard-fought match with plenty of goals and some dazzling play from both teams. With the game tied at 3-3, Pakistan’s Muhammad Arslan Qadir managed to find the back of the net, just one minute away from full time, to secure a famous victory for Pakistan.
Obscene celebrations
That is when things got decidedly ugly. Not just content with the win, the Pakistani players went overboard celebrating their narrow win, with some obscene behaviour directed mainly towards the shell-shocked Bhubaneswar crowd. A few of the players took off their shirts and made obscene gestures, including taunting the crowd with their fingers on their lips and showing the infamous middle-finger.
Predictably, these mindless antics served to further exacerbate the tense relations between the two countries to such an extent that they still refuses to thaw, even after almost a year has passed since the incident. Hockey India President Narinder Batra ruled out the inclusion of Pakistani players from the Hockey India League, stating that, “"I would love to have Pakistan players but not with the kind of behaviour they displayed in the Champions Trophy.” But the bigger issue seems to be the lack of an apology – according to Batra, Pakistan had not shown any “regret” for their “unacceptable behaviour.”
War of words
But back to the match in question. As can be made out from the video, the then Pakistani coach Shahnaz Sheikh immediately intervened and can be seen trying to calm his players down. Sheikh later apologised for his players’ behaviour in a press statement, supposedly saying, “The behaviour [of some of our players] was not acceptable." Initially, the International Hockey Federation, the governing body for international hockey, seemed satisfied with the apology, saying that they believed “no further action is warranted”. However, after Hockey India chief Narinder Batra showed his anger towards the decision and even threatened that India would not host any such tournaments in the future, the International Hockey Federation, made a U-turn and suspended two Pakistani players. In all fairness though, Pakistan did try and do some damage control, by coming out with flowers before the next match against Germany in the final. Unfortunately, that did little to placate the crowd who gave them a hostile reception in a match which they lost 2-0.
However, the controversy refused to die down when, a few days later, the Pakistani coach went back on his apology, claiming that it was forced upon him by the International Hockey Federation, and Hockey India. Sheikh defended his players’ behaviour and accused the International Hockey Federation, and Hockey India of conspiring against Pakistan so that they would lose the final. Interestingly enough, it seems that players themselves are over the issue with both Indian captain Sardar Singh and Sheikh saying that there were no “hard feelings” between the teams, just before another India-Pakistan clash in the World Hockey League at Belgium.
But the bad blood seems to have remained. Sheikh stepped down as coach of the Pakistan team in August, but reacted strongly to Batra’s recent statement of not allowing Pakistani players in the Hockey Indian League. Sheikh claimed that he felt Batra was a “nice man” but he was disappointed by his statement as he felt someone was “dictating him to say such things.” Adding another dash of ill-feeling, he went on to add that “Indian hockey was not able to digest the loss against Pakistan” and Pakistan would give a “fitting reply” on the hockey ground.
As it stands now, it is difficult to see either party shying away from the deadlock. What this means is that after cricket, another sport has fallen prey to the hostility between the two nations.