Tribal Lions Walks Out In Protest, Bannu To Face Peshawar Falcons In KP National League Final

PESHAWAR, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Oct, 2021 ) :The ongoing Khyber Pakhtunkhwa National Hockey League-2021 has been embroiled in controversy due supervising umpire Yasir Khurshid's decision of penalty stroke against Tribal Lions and in favour of Peshawar Falcons, resulting in stopping the first semi-final played at Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium on Thursday.

Surprisingly, umpire Yasir Khurshed has blown up his whistle for a penalty stroke spot well before the defender from Tribal Lions' even touching the ball. The ball was in control of Peshawar Falcon forward as was shown in the review later on. His decision was challenged by the Tribal Lions skipper Usman and demanded a review but the review was not given and thus Tribal Lions in protest left out of the ground when Peshawar Falcon was leading by 2-1 in 45-minute play, third quarter.

The field jury in hurry has given the decision and the match in favour of Peshawar Falcons, calling Tribal Lions as responsible for leaving the field. With this decision Bannu Panthers will face Peshawar Falcons in the final.

The Tribal Lions team lodged a protest against the decision of the umpire who gave a penalty stroke despite the deep defender taking the ball neatly and the same was shown in the video widely viral later on. Tribal Lions players demanded a review but it was not given by the sitting field jury. The same review was also widely viral because the match was live telecasted on a private tv sports Channel. It is worth mentioning here that Hockey League was already embroiled in controversy since the day when the schedule was changed four times, said Tribal Lions owner and known educationist Tehseen Shah during a post semi-final press briefing.

In addition, objections to the umpires' decisions have been raised by various quarters, but the organizing committee did not take it seriously at any moments during the League, he added. From day one, the impression was that the way was being paved for the Peshawar Falcons and eventually the Peshawar Falcons reaching the final.

Syed Tahseen Shah, owner of Tribal Lines, informed the media that his demand was only for review.

Of course, he would go against them but no review was given. The final was played between the first and second teams in the League and the draws were changed overnight. The Tribal Lions top the eight teams battles on the point table with most points but all of sudden the decision of conducting the semi-finals matches instead of deciding the League on points table after the League round overs with all eight teams completed of playing their seven matches each.

According to international rules, he said, if decision was taken for the semi-final, the group leader at No. 1 place Tribal Lions will have to play against No.4 Bannu Panthers and similarly the No.2 at points table Kohat Eagles will play against No.3 Peshawar Falcons but the draw was changed overnight and Peshawar Falcon teamed up against Tribal Lion, which is not justified, Tehseen Shah said.

He said that the time and place of the two Tribal matches were changed and the schedule was changed four times. He said that the jury was rude, not going for review. That is why the team walks out of the field despite his repeated request to play. He said he assembled the team of all those players who were ignored by his own associations and formed a last-minute team that had qualified for the finals and even topped the League point table. He said the Tribal Lions captain was suspended for two matches after the match debates earlier on and the team manager Bilal was suspended only reporting late for signing the match sheet only.

Earlier, Bannu Panthers defeated Kohat Eagles by 5-4. Zakir from Bannu scored a beautiful field goal in the first minute, giving the team a vital early lead. In the 32nd minute, Khairullah scored another goal to make the tally 2-0.

For Kohat Eagles, Arbaz scored four goals on the penalty corners to make the tally 4-2 but full-back Sufyan rescued his team Bannu Panthers and scored two goals on the penalty corner to make it 4-4. This was Zakir who scored the decisive goal for Bannu, his second, and thus the lead proved vital for Bannu victory.