Explained: Why Australia allowed to retake penalty shot against India in CWG 2022 hockey semifinal

Australia’s
Rosie
Malone,
who
missed
her
first
attempt
during
the
penalty
shootout,
was
gifted
another
chance
as
the
eight
second
countdown
on
the
scoreboard
hadn’t
started.

The
forward
did
not
miss
the
second
time,
putting
her
side
in
the
lead.

The
Indians
eventually
lost
the
semifinal
0-3
in
the
shootout
after
both
teams
were
tied
1-1
at
the
end
of
regulation
time
as
the
crowd
booed
the
technical
officials
for
the
decision.

Here’s
an

explainer
of
the
sequence?

What
is
the
clock
rule
in
a
penalty
shootout

In
field
hockey,
The
penalty
taker
starts
on
the
23-metre
line
with
the
ball
and
the
goalkeeper
starts
on
the
goal
line.
When
the
whistle
is
blown,
both
can
move
and
the
attacker
has
8
seconds
to
score
a
goal.

Unlike
a
penalty
stroke
or
penalty
corner
there
are
no
restrictions
on
strokes
the
attacker
may
use
to
score
and
a
goal
is
scored
in
the
usual
way.

If
the
attacker
commits
an
offence,
the
ball
travels
outside
the
field
of
play,
or
8
seconds
elapse
before
the
ball
crosses
the
line
a
goal
is
not
awarded.

If
the
goalkeeper
unintentionally
fouls
the
attacker
then
the
penalty
shoot-out
is
re-taken;
in
the
event
the
foul
was
intentional
a
penalty
stroke
is
awarded.

What
happened
at
CWG
2022

A
technical
delegate
had
drop
the
hand
for
the
stop-watch
to
start
indicating
the
start
of
the
8
seconds
time
to
score
the
goal.
The
referee
will
then
indicate
to
the
players
that
the
time
for
penalty
to
be
taken
will
start.

But
at
Birmingham,
the
delegate
did
not
drop
the
hand
and
the
stop-watch
did
not
start
either.
But
the
referee
signalled
the
penalty
to
be
taken
despite
the
delegate
not
dropping
her
hand,
even
as
the
latter
tried
furiously
to
stop
the
penalty
being
taken.

Once
India’s
Savita
Punia
made
the
save,
the
delegate
explained
the
situation
to
the
referee
and
she
ordered
the
penalty
to
be
retaken.

Reactions
to
the
controversy

As
criticism
from
all
quarters
mounted,
the
International
Hockey
Federation
(FIH)
on
Saturday
(August
6)
apologised
for
the
clock
controversy.

FIH:
The
FIH
said
it
would
“thoroughly
review”
the
incident.

“In
the
semifinal
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,”
the
statement
added.

“We’re
not
using
it
as
an
excuse,
but
we
are
human.
It
definitely
affected
us
psychologically,”

said
goalkeeper
Savita
after
the
match.

India
coach
Jannekke
Schopmann
said:
“I’m
not
using
it
as
an
excuse,
but
you
know,
your
goalkeeper
makes
a
save,
that’s
an
enormous
boost
for
the
team
and
you
turn
the
decision
around.
The
team
was
really
upset
about
it.
I’m
sure
their
focus
was
lost
a
little
bit
after
that.”

“It
affected
our
momentum.
The
second
hit
went
in,
and
everyone
is
deflated,
we
don’t
need
to
be
but
it’s
human
emotion.
It
would
be
better
to
have
the
strength
to
shake
it
off
and
think
it
doesn’t
matter,
but
of
course,
it
does
matter.

“I
am
angry,
also
because
the
umpires
don’t
understand
it
either.
I
think
those
people
(the
delegates)
just
do
not
understand
the
game
and
the
emotions
that
are
involved.
I’ve
never
experienced
anything
like
this.”