The IHF has taken a serious view of the alleged manhandling of umpire Satinder Sharma in the last final of the Third Premier Hockey League (PHL) by the Sher-e-Jalandhar players and has constituted a disciplinary committee to look into the conduct of rowdy players, including goalkeeper Kamaldeep Singh, Tejbir Singh and Kanwalpreet Singh. PHL Tournament Director (TD), Shakeel Qureshi has been assigned the task of fact-finding, while Dinesh Vajpayee, the Bengal Hockey Association president, will head the disciplinary committee. Sources in the federation informed The Indian Express that Bhopal-based Qureshi has already submitted his report to IHF. “The TD has recommended a ban on players. At least three Sher-e-Jalandhar players may face a ban for three years,” the sources at the IHF headquarters added.When contacted, IHF secretary-general K Jyothikumaran confirmed that Qureshi has submitted his report. “So far no final decision has been made by IHF, although a disciplinary committee has been formed to decide on the punishments, if any. Qureshi has filed his final report and recommendations, we have sent the copies of that to the members of the committee and IHF president KPS Gill. We are hoping for a final decision soon,” Jyothikumaran said over the phone. Meanwhile, Qureshi refused to divulge any information about his findings and recommendations. “I have gone into the details of the incident and submitted my report to IHF. Now it is for the federation to decide on what should be done with the players in question. I don’t know when the IHF will announce the verdict about the guilty players,” he said. —(With inputs from Ikhhlaq Singh Aujla)
