HKHAMS 16-17 Circular No. 25 - Review of incident during Guru Nanak Hockey Tournament

Attachment: HKHA Code of Conduct
                    HKHAMS General Bye-laws_2015_June 

Dear all,

The purpose of this circular is to inform you the actions taken by the MS Committee and the club involved regarding a recent incident that involved misconduct by players and supporters during and after a hockey match.

Please also be informed that, at a recent meeting, the MS Committee decided that should similar incident happen again, more stringent action would be taken against the club/team/player involved.  In this connection, it is worth noting that the HKHA and the MS have issued straight guidelines on the matter.  Please refer to HKHA Code of Conduct and No.15 of the MS's General Bye-laws for details as attached.

Regarding the above-mentioned incident, the MS committee received reports from the two official umpires of the Cup semi-final match between Khalsa A and HKFC A of Guru Nanak Tournament at King's Park Hockey Ground on 27th December, 2016.

The umpire reports stated that a number of Khalsa players and supporters had misbehaved themselves by using abusive languages against the two official umpires during and after the said match.

On 4th January 2017, the Khalsa Sport Club submitted a letter to the MS Committee on the matter.  In the letter, Khalsa Sports Club apologized to the MS Committee for the matter and also outlined the actions to be taken against the players and supporters involved.

On 5th January 2017, the MS Committee held a meeting to follow up the reports.  The two official umpires were invited to appear before the Committee to give further information regarding the incident.  Khalsa players who were named in the umpire reports and representatives of the Khalsa Sport Club were also asked to appear before the Committee to explain their acts.

After reviewing the information gathered and hearing representation from Khalsa Sport Club, the MS Committee considered that abusive languages had been used against the umpires during and after the match.

Such misconduct was not acceptable, the MS Committee condemned such act.

However, noting that the Khalsa Sport Club had:

(a) apologized to the umpires and also the MS Committee;

(b) proposed to suspend the players directly involved for five matches; and

(c) issued warning to the other player and supporter who were involved,

the MS Committee considered that no further disciplinary action was warranted.

Nonetheless, the MS Committee decided to:

(a) demand Khalsa Sport Club to take necessary action to control their players and supporters to prevent the re-occurrence of similar incidents;

(b) impose five-match suspension on the players involved namely, Dharminder Singh, Parvinder Singh Banned and Batra Amandeep Singh; and

(c) request Khalsa Sport Club to copy the MS Committee the written warnings that has been sent to Jagdev Singh regarding his misconduct against the umpires after the match.

I am taking this opportunity to remind all the importance of managing the behavior of their players and supporters during and after all matches.

Your kind attention and co-operation are highly appreciated.

Regards, 

Tony NG
Hon Secretary
The HKHAMS