Pakistan Hockey Team Head Coach Shahnaz Sheikh boycotted the post-match press conference after the Indian media accused the celebrating Pakistani players with obscene gestures, including finger salutes, directed towards Indian players and the fans.
Soon after the match ended, all Pakistan players took their shirts off and ran wildly on the ground to celebrate their historic victory over India. However, the Indian media said the Pakistani players’ celebration was objectionable, saying the Indians expected them to shake hands with their opponents after the match to maintain the spirit of the game.
The Indian media earlier claimed that the Federation of International Hockey (FIH) had started an investigation into the incident but the FIH released an official statement that “no further action is warranted” on the Indian charge.
“At the conclusion of the semi-final match between India and Pakistan, which was won by Pakistan, the celebration of the Pakistani team contained some behaviour that warranted further investigation by me as Tournament Director,” Wiert Doyer said in an FIH press release.
“As a result I have spoken to the Head Coach of the Pakistan team, Mr. Shahnaz Sheikh, and told him that the behaviour of Pakistan players went beyond what is acceptable to standards of the FIH.
“The behaviour in question concerned many members of the Pakistan team. It is difficult to find any particular miscreant, and it is possible that the behaviour of the players may have been a reaction.
“Mr Shahnaz Sheikh has apologised and assured me that this behaviour will not occur again. Given these matters, I’ve decided that no further action is warranted,” the statement further read.
The match was level at 3-3 until the penultimate minute when Muhammad Qadir’s deflection turned the game towards Pakistan’s way.
“We won the Asian Games final, but we did not didn’t anything like that. This is not the right way to celebrate,” said a visibly dejected India captain Sardar Singh.