KARACHI: A brawl marred the drawn tri-series match between arch-rivals Pakistan and India which left Shafqat Rasool with an injured knee.
The match ended 3-3 where Pakistan fought back superbly after trailing by three goals at the interval. Sohail Abbas scored twice in the 46th and 64th minute while captain Shakeel Abbasi scored the equaliser a minute later to secure the draw.
The brawl took place when the Indian players attacked Pakistani players three minutes from time, leaving Rasool injured, according to team manager Khwaja Junaid.
“It’s been happening for the past 50 years,” Junaid told The Express Tribune. “We understand that both teams were emotionally charged and since Pakistan equalised late in the match, Indian midfielder Gurbaj Singh lost his cool and hit Rasool with the ball.
“I’m proud of my players for not retaliating and, instead, going to the umpire to lodge their protest. It was just a very high energy match.”
Junaid added that the team decided to end the match a minute from time since former captain Mohammad Imran also got hurt. He confirmed that the players were not seriously injured but Rasool did need some physiotherapy after the incident.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 29th, 2011.
COMMENTS (54)
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@Nate Gupta: Whenever you point your finger towards someone, three fingers from your own hand point at you!
indians players need man up. but alas! due to shortness of the necessary "thing" thats seems to be unachievable
@someone: I agree that Indian news channels (especially Hindi) are only sensationalist and try and hype anything - but we Indians also see these channels as such - they actually compete with reality TV shows more than other better English news channels :). But have you ever heard any Indian in any forum referring to these reports as a foundation for their arguments? (The ToI is another such paper that caters exclusively to the lower denominator in terms of quality of news required or provided. ). I find newspapers like ET, Dawn and the Hindu to be of a much superior journalistic standard (I know this may surprise several readers in Pakistan, but the Hindu newspaper has nothing to do with the religion - check it out sometime) and that is why you find so many of us active in these fora. Another aspect is curiosity to understand what intelligent young Pakistanis actually feel about issues that bedevil our true countries - since we know nothing about you guys and do not believe that all of you want all of us dead. While we don't leave our patriotism at home when we visit these websites, we come mainly to learn and understand - which is why the doves largely outnumber the hawks! My only refrain is that those visiting Indian websites should also not pick up on negative comments alone - and try and visit newspapers and websites where comments are posted by people who actually know something about the issue discussed - you may then feel differently.
Dear all, Both the teams are superb in Hockey. We always want India to win but believe it when Pakistan wins we are equally happy. Such things are minor. It happens when two Pakistani teams play it also happens when two Indian teams play. We want very friendly relations with our Pakistani brothers. Please pray for the day when we will be able to visit each other without visa and passport!
It is a hockey match, for God's sake. These things happen in the heat of the moment. You do not see these type of incidents in Cricket because of the slow pace of the game. I just wish that both the countries, Pakistan and India thrash the other teams in hockey so that we can get back the lost glory that we have lost to the other hockey playing nations. Relax. After all, it is a game......
@someone: Mr. Someone, You are contradicting yourself - preaching not to point fingers and talking about a terrorist camel at the same time :) This article is poorly written and is an example of bad journalism. How is that pointing fingers? Sincerely!
If politics should not be a part of sporting events, then why does India not play Pakistan? It is the indians who politicised sports @Zeeshan:
Aman ki asha is another tamasha. Pakistan and India can NEVER be friends unless Kashmir is settled to the satisfaction of the Kashmiris. We should have a player in the team whose sole job would be to break the legs of Indian players till he is shown the Red Card. We should learn to play with 10 players and in the process should reduce the Indian team to half by injuring them. Result does not matter. LONG LIVE PAKISTAN!
@Nate Gupta: Go watch some Indian channels and know how things are. I even saw one news report of a "terrorist" camel that crossed border from pakistan. May be u need to put ur house in order before pointing fingers.
And yes it was a sporting incident which should remain as such. We do believe in peace but dont need fingers pointed at either side.
It's just so sad that this happened. Our ties were improving recently. To my Pakistani fellows, cool down. These things happen in a heated match. Let's forget it in the best interest of both nations. Treat it as an one unfortunate incident.
Very very poor journalism. It is so obvious to see how media promotes hatred in Pakistani society against us. It was a sports related incident and should be treated as such. On the other hand, it was heart warming to read the comments of others to ignore the whole episode as a miner skirmish between the players.
Also to all the Indians who are commenting over here, can you please elaborate if it was the mistake of Pakistanis why Indian Hockey team manager, coach, captain and a player has been banned?
Thanks Ann and Ian for your honest assessment of what happened on the ground.
India can't win pakistan in any game or other thing thats why so hot.
I was at the game also and it was wonderful to see Pakistan work their way back into the game. It was also interesting to watch the Indian players turning on each other toward the end of the match whereas the Pakistan team continued to push forward and play attacking hockey. I was at the end of the ground where the incident occurred and it was not pretty. The referees were unable to control the players and people were really dumbfounded and not quite sure what to do. I only hope the players can let their wonderful skills do the talking in bun bury.
The pakistani team should not be allowed back into pakistan unless and until they avenge on the dhoti-wearing and 'daal-khor' creature.
I live in Busselton and went to the game with my children as it was an opportunity to see two great teams from great countries playing. The match was great until it was marred by the incident. I was at the far end of the field so it was hard to see what happened and who was responsible. Whatever the facts the ensuing brawl was not dignified and hardly made either team look good. Having said that the Pakistan team returned to the field and the clock counted down the last minute of the game and both teams shook hands, thus doing them both credit.
Ultimately India played a great first half and then Pakistan fought back brilliantly in the second. The final score of any game is secondary - the most important thing is a great game played to each teams best ability and with good sportsmanship.
@Beghariyiti: "What was the brawl about?" It was about your poor sportsmanship. You could not take a 3-0 lead victory turning into a draw and being in a danger of losing it. So you get into bullying just like a 10 time bigger bully should.
What else do you expect from Indians? ... remember we recently refueled their chopper which intruded into our aerospace and sent it back with the crew and they made a fuss about the data that we "Allegedly" erased from their chopper in order to keep our locations safe... and what did the indies do???? they blame us for the data lost :) ... you gotta be seriously cracked up in the head to make such an absurd claim... even the international court of justice would have thrown cold water on them had we shot the chopper 40 kilometers inside our territory!... really guysz... no need to be surprised at indi attitudes.
pakistan should stop harsh behavior, control their mind while playing. no time for these kinda paki drama, busy with Indian GP
hehehehehe ... what a joke ???? IHK and hokey .... what a comparison .... LOOLLLL... No wonder Pakistan is 10 yrs behind Bangladesh .....
http://www.stick2hockey.com/Article/Free%20for%20all%20at%20Busselton%20as%20India-Pak%20players%20los/Latest%20News/21/8865~8864~8861~8857~8842~8841~8835~8834~8819~8815~8808~8807~8806~8798~8796~8789~8785~8731~8708~8701/8865.html
Read the article if you want to know why and how it all started..
this incident has something to do with skirmishes in asian hockey cup final 2011 when the pakistani players and coach of the pakistan team used foul language against indian team players. that news was published in the tribune.
they attack us and we are baygherat to talk about aman....
I think we should not bring politics in the sports. It happens always in the match between Germany and Holland or England and Australia but what does it mean, its just a sport. I am bit ashamed of the writer who brings war and other nuclear discussions in his report. Its not good and not good for anyone, at least not good for sports. Who so ever is responsible for such incident on the ground needs to be punished by the authority and that's it as by doing this the rest of the players will learn lesson.
It is time to take revenge......Radio Pakistan Delhi will be a reality now...
Indians are bad losers. I remember their loss to Sri Lanka in World Cup semifinal 1996.
@Sultan Mehmood: I actually wants to ask this same question to the indian team?
Great job bytheway express tribune? Not giving the whole story but just blaming the indian players.
cmon on now.. need more on this
A fight over a soccer match doesn't worry me. It's when people cease friendly, controlled competitive things like sports that I'll get worried.
@Indian Oooh the facts like they did in helicopter incident...lolz
Anyway its really bad sportsmanship
Hahahahahaha I'd love to watch the repeat telecast... Guys take a chill pill.
Before people get inflamed and put hate here, can I appeal to everyone to please respond maturely and not jump to conclusions. The full details are not out yet. Also, pl do not drag Kashmir or MFN or such silly tangents in here.
I simply condemn any violence or bad behaviour in any sporting event, esp between India and Pakistan and hope the sporting authorities will investigate and punish the culprits. strong textemphasized textSportsmen from India and Pak should be esp on their best behaviour, for obvious reasons.
Here is how Indian Express has reported it honestly.
http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-squander-lead-to-draw-against-pakistan-in-a-heated-match/866724/2
"In the closing stages of the match, a hard tackle by an Indian player resulted in a scuffle between the two teams. The incident forced the match to be stopped for about half-an-hour..."
@Hashmi: And what do you want?? Kill each other? hatred begets hatred and nothing else Its sports and it happens all over the world .. It has nothing to do with politics or the "three wars" mentioned above. I used to play soccer and we had fights on the ground a couple of times as well but it was always confined to the ground only. When you are playing professionally nothing else is on their mind but the game and as printed above it was tight match so tensions were high on both sides.
@Hashmi:
India had given the MFN status to Pakistan a long time ago and Pakistan is yet to reciprocate (while enjoying the benefits) Do you realise your own true picture?
A minor sports tiff , collapse of colonialism, three full scale wars and nuclear weapons all mentioned in a 140 word write-up on a hockey game.
I would say quite an achievement!
Whattay a Shame for indian hockey team; Polluted the true beauty of the game!!
So desperate?
Expected to happen when the last-minute victory is snatched away from you!
and people here want Aman ki Asha.. and the govt wants to give them the MFN status.. It is about time we realise their true picture.
I disagree with this article. We hardly have any physical contact with any Indian sporting team(kabadi is an exception) during matches... Don't spread hate unnecessarily, Careless and space filling journo and jargon is unwarranted at this time please.
What was the brawl about? Where the Pakistani players complaining about atrocities in IHK? And why do you always need to copy paste the last para in every sporting/non-sporting news event between India and Pak. This is probably the 10th time I am reading the exact same par. Copyeditor please take note as this is not expected from a high standard publication like ET.