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FIH Disappointed at Lithuania?s Withdrawal from Women?s World Cup Qualifier  x13
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| Planet Field Hockey |
October 2, 2001 
FIH
> Page Views 6369
The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has expressed disappointment at Lithuania?s withdrawal on Sunday from the Women?s World Cup Qualifier in Amiens/Abbeville.
With their match on Saturday drawn against Ireland after extra time, a very unfortunate mistake was made by the FIH technical officers regarding the order in which penalty strokes were taken. After the first series of strokes, the teams were level. It was at this point that the mistake was made. Lithuania then won the second series of penalty strokes but Ireland lodged a formal protest. The FIH Tournament Director (TD), Mrs Claire Peeters-Monseu (BEL) upheld the protest and ruled that the second series of penalty strokes be held again at 10am the following morning. Lithuania did not accept the TD?s ruling and did not contest the replay of the second series of penalty strokes.
According to FIH tournament regulations any team that refuses to complete a match shall be considered as withdrawing at that stage and losing the match in question. Thus, Lithuania was not permitted to take any further part in the tournament. The place that this team would have occupied in the final ranking of the tournament remains vacant and therefore is not attributed to any other team taking part.
Peter Cohen, FIH Honorary Secretary General, commented, ?Whilst I can understand their frustration, in refusing to accept the decision Lithuania rejected two remaining opportunities to qualify for the Women?s World Cup, one by contesting the replay of the penalty strokes, which they may well have won and, if they had lost, by playing off for 7th position against India. Although the FIH regrets the error made concerning the order of the penalty strokes, when a protest is lodged the decision of the Tournament Director is final and must be accepted by the teams involved.
?Their withdrawal is all the more saddening given Lithuania?s promise as a developing hockey nation, which had been further stimulated by the FIH awarding a grant for Lithuania?s synthetic pitch, completed in 2000, followed by an additional development grant in 2001.?
Final conclusions will be drawn by FIH, on receipt of the TD?s official
report from the tournament.
The 10th Women?s World Cup will take place in Perth, Australia from 25 Nov - 8 Dec 2002.
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Comments on this article
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J.B.
10-02-2001 11:03 am
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Lithuania
Of course the FIH is disappointed, what else can they say...I think that,taking into consideration that Lith. is a developing country (at least afa hockey is concerned), and with the 2000/2001 FIH grants in mind, the FIH should give Lithuania at least another chance to qualify.
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Hockey Fan
10-02-2001 2:09 pm
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Qualifier
I think it is fair to say that many are disappointed in the FIH following how they handled things at the qualifier.
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Hari
10-03-2001 7:17 am
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RE: Sexist Comments
MC,
Your comments above (which have been removed) are totally distasteful. The people in charge of tournaments must be qualified to be appointed. That doesn't matter if there male, female, or from any country in the world. I've seen similar mistakes made by male technical officials in my career as well.
What needs to be changed is the standards that the FIH uses to select their technical officials.
I think that everyone should know the technical rules, TD's, umpires, coaches and players. These should be outlined in a 2-3 page tournament rules summary/supplemental which is distrubuted to the teams prior to the tournament being started. It can include basics such as 3 points for a win etc, as well as the stroke taking procedure. It would clear up a lot of confusion.
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IC
10-03-2001 9:21 am
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RE: MC Comments
I've lost the point you are making re sexist comments, however, would like to point out that the (Irish) players were clear on the rules for the stroke competition. The Irish captain queried the order at the start of the second series and suggested it should change. The umpires discussed and asked the TD's bench for guidance. Even after this query and prompting they got it wrong.
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mc
10-04-2001 4:06 am
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sorry
i apologize wholeheartedly for the inappropriate comments...i guess i was just angry with what's going on at the WCQ and the FIH in general....lately i have not been happy with some issues such as qualification criteria, how NZ men was treated, why US women getting preferred treatment (though i would sympathize with their situation), the farcical qualification criteria for WC, the failure of FIH to get more women teams into Olympics, the lack of marketing for hockey (seen any live international matches on TV lately??), and the 4-team format at the WCQ in Edinburgh and JWC at Hobart...seems that hockey may someday cease to become an Olympic sport if something is not done quickly...face it, hockey may be the second most watched sport at Sydney...but the FIH has not done enough to promote the game...interest is waning in countries like Spain, Germany and even in the sub-continent...so Vriesman and co...please buck up!!!
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mc
10-04-2001 4:49 am
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sorry
i apologize wholeheartedly for the earlier comments...i'm aware that i was being sexist in making those remarks...and it was totally inappropriate...was just being upset over the whole affair at the WCQ...and FIH in general...again pls accept my apologies
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bc
10-04-2001 8:30 am
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re:mc
How can you say that the US is getting preferential treatment???????? Their fate was virtually decided for them before the tournament even happened. Would you rather the FIH make another asinie decision by not allowing them an opportunity to try and qualify? You say that you sympathize with their situation but then you also say they get preferential treatment. I think you should stop rambling on with your ignorant comments and think next time you decide to write something onto the message board.
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vijay
10-04-2001 8:39 am
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Mc, I did not get to read your comments but its nice of you to say sorry. Well I am from India and I know that India have a chance of qualifying becuase lithuania was disqualified.
I feel terrible for lithuania. I say, let lithuania, India and USA comptete for the remanining slot. Who wins qualifies..fair and square.
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Ivy
10-04-2001 11:05 am
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to vijay and others
Good idea, Vijay, but I think legal eagles Ireland should join them as well, and let the top two teams go the World Cup.....And , without offence, let's not have the play offs in India, but in some neutral country. Better for everybody concerned!
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mc
10-04-2001 8:06 pm
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comments
i knew i would hit a nerve with that one...sorry for being un-PC, but i think a lot of people would agree with me...sure the US team had no way of getting to France before the tourney due to recent events, but the fact that the US was seeded 2nd meant that the FIH had to find a way to give them a shot for the WC....imagine if a less-heralded team were in the same situation...do u think the FIH would give the same option to them????i don't think so!!!and by the way, i know enough about hockey to make comments as i see fit...at least i don't go around saying people are ignorant and all
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Jeff
10-04-2001 10:42 pm
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Lithuania did a great job by pulling out of the tournament...that leaves some things to Els van Breda Vriesen and company to think for future competitions....
ps:-incompetent umpires should be banned from umpiring again, and when a match is over IT IS OVER......protests should not be accepted....if Ireland was the better team on that day....they could've proven it by winning....but instead they qualified thanks to a mistake by the refs.........
Ireland just QUALIFIED for the World Cup.......IT is still left to be played, and then we're going to see who's good, who's bad, and who relies on TECHNICAL MISTAKES!!!!!!
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HQ
10-05-2001 5:45 am
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Ireland only lost to one of the four teams that finished ahead of them in the Tournament. They also beat Scotland who have qualified and India who are still in contention for the final qualifying place. They can hardly be described as "bad" and it wasn't Ireland fault that this all occurred. All Ireland did from the very start was point out during the match that the strokes were being taken incorrectly and after the match that they had been taken incorrectly. I'm sure the team will show in Perth that their standard of hockey merits their place, even if it didn't come about as they would have wished.
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DA
10-06-2001 3:55 pm
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If holland or Germany were in the tournment and made an appell no one would say a thing about it . It's about time the fih and the ehf get their act together when appointing a td or to .
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