So far the 2022 Commonwealth Games (CWG) in Birmingham have been nothing short of a sporting spectacle. Some exciting sporting action across disciplines has caught the eyes of the world and given sports lovers some fascinating action to watch.
However, the women’s hockey semi-final between India and Australia on Saturday (August 5) saw a moment to forget to all involved in the organisation of the games. In a controversial moment that had a big impact on the result of the game, a penalty missed by an Australian player was retaken.
After an intense game which ended 1-1, the match went into a penalty shootout and following goalkeeper Savita Punia’s save in the first stroke, the women in blue had what appeared like getting a dream start. However, a decision by the referee to ask Australia to retake the shot completely changed the momentum of the game as the women in yellow managed to score that and India missed all three shots
Following the end of the game, the umpire’s decision became a major talking point as it visibly had a huge impact on the result. After massive outrage in the sporting community, the International Hockey Federation have apologised for the events and claimed that the incident will be investigated.
“In the semi-final match of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games between Australia and India (Women), the penalty shootout started mistakenly too early (the clock was not yet ready to operate), for which we apologise,” FIH said in a statement.
“The process in place for such situations is that the penalty shootout has to be retaken, which was done. This incident will be thoroughly reviewed by the FIH in order to avoid any similar issues in the future, they added.
India will now face New Zealand in the bronze medal clash on Sunday (August 7). Australia and England will face each other in gold medal clash
