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This is how Pakistan tried to defeat India in the hockey semi-finals

  • Sardar Singh was called for questioning during the semi-final match between India and Pakistan.
  • Hockey India has filed a complaint with Federation International Hockey (FIH) against Pakistan.
  • In its letter to FIH, Hockey India has felt that calling off Singh was an attempt to hamper the result of semi-finals.
Why was Sardar Singh called

The semi-final match that was held between the arch-rivals India and Pakistan on June 24 is under a fresh controversy after the Indian player Sardar Singh was called off during the match for questioning regarding his year-old sexual assault case that was filed in London.

After their respective defeats in the quarterfinal matches, the arch-rivals met each other for the semi-finals. India later went on to win the match by 6-1.

Now, India has alleged that, there was an attempt made by Pakistan to fix the match by calling Sardar Singh off the field during the game.

Hockey India now has filed a complaint with the Federation International Hockey (FIH) regarding the Pakistan’s attempt to sabotage the semi-final in London. In its letter to FIH, Hockey India has felt that calling off Singh was an attempt to hamper India's performance during the game.

As reported in Hindustan Times, “(sic) Everyone is aware that cases of match fixing in Cricket have taken place in England concerning Pakistan matches being played in England and after enquiry athletes have been banned and also sentenced to jail for it. Now, if this plague has decided to spread into hockey by adopting a route of bogus criminal complaint and making teams play with less number of players or tired players ( due to travel time a questioning) then it is a serious issue and may affect the credibility of the game of hockey which we all love so much. This plague if it is found to be true in investigation needs to be crushed now,” the letter states.

“The FIH is seriously looking into India’s complaint. We will follow the standard protocol and ask the host nation -- England Hockey -- to probe the case with the help of the local law enforcement agencies,” an FIH official told PTI on condition of anonymity.

“We expect the report of the investigation to be out in next 2-3 months,” said the official.

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