In a spirited performance, a 10-man India defeated Great Britain 4-2 in the penalty shootout to qualify for the Paris 2024 semi-finals.
The Harmanpreet-led side survived high press from Great Britain in the quarter-finals after Amit Rohidas was handed a red card. The defender was sent off in the 17th minute after the video was reviewed by on-field umpires. Soon after the decision, there was a major uproar among the Indian hockey fans while Hockey India also questioned the quality of umpiring.
The red card means that the Team India vice-captain will miss the semi-final against Germany on Tuesday. Incidentally, the suspension letter for Rohidas was penned down by a technical delegate Joshua Burt, who has a Bollywood connection.
Burt played the role of Australian men’s hockey team coach in Shah Rukh Khan-blockbuster ‘Chak De India’. The movie featured the Australian team as the main villain that gave a hard time to India.
The connection soon led to fans reacting to the situation, with a fan, Ayan Mukherjee, saying: “𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛? 🤔 Joshua Burt,who played the Australian coach in ‘Chak De! India’,is now the Technical Delegate for FIH at #ParisOlympics2024, and is the official who wrote the suspension letter for Amit Rohidas’ offence in yesterday’s match”.
“Fun Fact: @Olympics Hockey Tournament Director Joshua Burt (who confirmed the one-match ban on Amit Rohidas) also played the role of the Australian Women’s Team coach in Chak De India. Insane!,” a fan named Nakul Kamath said.
