Azlan Shah umpires under fire

South Korean team manager Jae Hong Jeon has dubbed the umpiring standards in the ongoing seven-nation Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournamen...

South Korean team manager Jae Hong Jeon has dubbed the umpiring standards in the ongoing seven-nation Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament here as “poor” and called for an immediate overhaul.

The Korean manager was irked by the decision of umpire Stewart Dearing (South Africa) who allowed a goal by Christoph Bechmann against Korea that clinched the game 2-1 for Germany.

“I thought that the goal should have been disallowed for obstruction. The German player clearly shielded the ball and should have been penalised. But the umpire allowed him to score and we lost 1-2,” said Jeon.

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Jeon also hit out at the practice of nominating two European umpires for a match involving an Asian and an European side. “Why don’t they have one Asian and one European umpire instead?” Jeon wanted to know.

The manager thought that the Koreans were “done in” by the umpires. “The umpires made two mistakes and that cost us the match. We were disallowed a clean goal, and then the second goal against us was not disallowed,” Jeon charged.

Though none of the other coaches or managers were willing to come on record with their views on the umpiring standards in this tournament, privately they admitted that the interpretation of certain rules, especially those concerning aerial balls or scoop, varied from umpire to umpire, leading to confusion.