Indian hockey team blames umpires for defeat against Netherlands

Bhubaneswar: Indian hockey team on Thursday questioned the decisions of umpires for the heartbreaking defeat against the Netherlands in the quarter final of the men's hockey World Cup here.

The team found the umpire's decision wrong on giving yellow card to defender Amit Rohidas during the last minutes into the game.

"First of all, I like to tender my apology to the people in India for not giving the results what they deserve. But, I am not going to take it very easily. If they don't want to improve, these kind of results we are going to face.

"We have lost two major tournaments this year due to the fault of the umpires," said Indian coach Harendra Singh.

Captain Manpreet Singh said at least they need to improve.

"Because of them we have lost two major tournaments and people are asking to us why the Indian hockey is not improving and losing every time," said Manpreet.

The Indian team, however, refused to lodge official complaint against the umpires for their alleged wrong decisions.

"How will it benefit us by lodging complaint. We have already lost the game," said the Indian captain.

"We have to accept the defeat gracefully. But, some departments of FIH need to be improved. You can not do the umpiring arrogantly. The federation, players and coaches invest so much of time for a tournament. But, you ruined the 4-6 years' hard work with your one wrong decision," said Harendra.

The coach also admitted that they missed some opportunities throughout the game and failed to capitalise the chances. He also praised the game of the players.