In my entire playing career, I have never come across such an atrocious decision as the one that was given by the Pakistan umpire Irfan Zaidi. It was as if he had come into the field to totally demolish whatever hopes India had of finishing in the top six at the Utrecht World Cup. One can still give the benefit of the doubt to the umpire on any normal decision.But to award a penalty corner after the hooter went smacks of bias by the Pakistan umpire. Fellow players and fans who have seen me play during my career know that I never protested and took the umpires' decision as part of the game but this makes me angry.It makes me feel that India is not being allowed to gather a momentum and re-establish itself in the top six of the playing nations. Even if the hooter decision is overlooked, the penalty corner that was taken, the ball moved which itself is wrong and then hit a Korean player's leg which umpire Zaidi should have seen but he still allowed it and then let the Korean score.Of course, many wouldpoint out that we missed goals and we could have wrapped up the match easily. But a wrong decision that wrecks the aspirations of a team is unpardonable. Moreover, the International Hockey Federation knows the rivalry that India and Pakistan have. So why was a Pakistan umpire posted in an all-Asian match. Where have the neutral umpires gone? And why does it always happen to India only?I guess these are questions and more questions. But I guess answers will not be easy to get. It's for the Indian media to find out what is happening here. And may I ask, why is the Indian Hockey Federation not lodging a protest? And may I ask, when at the press conference after the match, the International Hockey Federation was sitting there trying to find out what the Indian team reaction was, where was the Indian Hockey Federation?I have to give credit to our team manager, Ajitpal Singh, captain when we won the 1975 World Cup, that he took on the task of saying that the decisions in the match were absolutely biasedagainst India. He was the only one to say that "Please go and have a look at the replay. And there you will have the truth." But is the IHF going to look at the replay - will they stand up and say that "Enough is enough."I don't think we have the heart or the pride for that. Australian and other journalists, in fact, told Ajitpal Singh that "Please show some pride by lodging a protest against the umpire." But .Even the Pakistan journalists and players who met me said that whatever happened was a shame. They felt ashamed that a Pakistan umpire gave such a decision against India. But anyway, what can we do now except to pick ourselves up and roll on. We still have a chance of the first six. And the team should go for it. It is very demoralising but it's not the end of life.Coming back to the match, I think our forwards missed too many goals. But it's time the team management realised that our captain Dhanraj Pillay is not fit, at least admit to that, and that he is missing too many goals. Three opengoals were missed by him. It just shows that he is not fit. Even during the penalty corners that India defends, Pillay rushes out to effect saves. He was not doing that today - which means that he was not fit for that either. Who do we blame, the Indian Hockey Federation or Dhanraj Pillay?I only have one request - from hockey we have a lot of hopes, but please don't let spirits droop. This team is a good team. Give them the support. The boys are up against a lot which includes biased umpiring.
