That moment of sheer madness

The last final of the Third Premier Hockey League between Sher-e-Jalandhar and Orissa Steelers was heading for a riveting climax, till one moment of madness spoilt it all.

The last final of the Third Premier Hockey League between Sher-e-Jalandhar and Orissa Steelers was heading for a riveting climax, till one moment of madness spoilt it all. That final played on March 5 at Chandigarh’s Sector 42 Hockey Stadium will now be labelled as a black day in the annals of Indian hockey as umpire Satinder Sharma was roughed up by three Jalandhar players.

Satinder, on the elite umpires’ panel of the Federation Internationale de Hockey (FIH), had awarded a penalty corner to Orissa Steelers in the 56th minute, with the teams locked 3-3. Just as Steelers’ Birender Lakra was about to take the push, Sher-e-Jalandhar defender Harpal Singh rushed out. Satinder cautioned Harpal and gave him a green card.

Birender went back to take the push again and Satinder blew the whistle. The ball was stopped by Bimal Lakra and Steelers’ skipper Dilip Tirkey took a rasping hit which banged against the board. Satinder awarded the goal to Steelers, who went 4-3 ahead.

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The Jalandhar players were suddenly up in arms against Satinder’s decision and began to protest loudly. They alleged the umpire had not given them the time to settle down. Some claimed Satinder had not told the technical table to restart the time clock.

Jalandhar goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh pushed Satinder and hit him with his helmet. Even forward Tejbir Singh joined Kamaldeep and shoved the umpire, who has had the distinction of standing in the Champions Trophy (2006) final at Terassa besides officiating in the Athens Olympics (2004) and two World Cups (Kuala Lumpur 2002 and Moenchengladbach 2006).

Satinder ran towards the side-line, to the technical officials’ table. Meanwhile, other Jalandhar players began to get brusque with the other goalkeeper, Maninder Singh, leading the pack. Maninder hurled abuses at Satinder and even pushed him. Sher-e-Jalandhar coach Balwinder Singh Shammi and manager Surinder Singh Sodhi, both former Olympians, made little effort to restrain their unruly lads.

The crowd turned hysterical and began shouting at Satinder and even at Orissa players. The game was suspended as Satinder refused to get back into the field. The organisers and PHL tournament director (TD) Shakeel Qureshi tried to pacify Satinder. Even the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary K Jothikumaran tried to play arbiter, but the issue was far from over. Finally, reserve umpire Suresh Kumar was handed the whistle after nearly 26 minutes to conduct the remaining of the match with the other umpire Virender Bahadur Singh. Police had to escort Satinder out of the Stadium.