MATCH: W02    CHN v  ESP
DATE:  2008-08-10 AT 10:30 ON Pitch 1

A Disciplinary Hearing was held at 11:20 on 2008-08-11 at the Olympic Green Hockey Stadium with respect to a report received by the Technical Delegate (TD) which indicated an alleged breach of the FIH Code of Conduct by the Spanish team.

Reported Breach of the FIH Code of Conduct:

That the Spanish Team players were in breach of the provisions of the FIH Code of Conduct as follows:

2(a) Disputing, protesting and/or reacting in a provocative or disapproving manner in an inappropriate way toward any decision made by an umpire or official.

2(b) Charging or advancing towards an umpire or technical official in an aggressive manner when appealing.

Decision of the TD:

The TD, after reviewing the evidence and hearing submissions from the Spanish delegation, ruled as follows:            

- that the behaviour of the Spanish players, as identified in the reported breach, was a clear violation of the FIH Code of Conduct

- that the Captain, although on the team bench at the time of the incident, was still responsible for controlling the behaviour of the team players and failed to ensure that the appropriate protocols were followed

- that it was a Level 1 offence for which the Spanish team were being issued a severe reprimand, and that any further incident involving similar behaviour would automatically be considered a Level 2 offence (Recurrent breaches of Level 1 behaviour) and would result in a minimum two (2) or more match suspension for the Team Captain and/or any other player involved in the misbehaviour.

Janet Ellis, Technical Delegate
2008-08-12