Argentina also offered its "sincere apologies for this unintentional and unfortunate incident".

England Hockey put in a protest to the World Cup organisers after it transpired that Argentina had had 12 men on the pitch for 2min 26sec of the second half, when the score stood at 0-0.

They noted that the incident had gone unnoticed by officials, who should have suspended the Argentinian captain for five minutes as a result.

Argentina won the match at the Kyocera Stadium in The Hague with two goals from Matias Paredes in the 55th and 56th minute - which would have been during the time when they were reduced to 10 men had the rules been observed.

England coach Bobby Crutchley said his players, who were ranked fourth in the world, seven places above Argentina, were "devastated" by their defeat.

The FIH acknowledged that there had been a breach of the rules, but that it had been "unintentional", and decided the result would stand and the Argentinian team would be sanctioned by having their captain suspended for the next match in an FIH event.

Matias Paredes scores one of his two crucial goals during the time when, England later argued, Argentina should have been reduced to 10 men after fielding an extra man for almost two and a half minutes of the second half ©AFP/Getty Images

In response, England Hockey said it respected the process and the decision that had been reached and that it had "chosen not to appeal either the finding or the penalty imposed".

But England's governing body pointed out that during the period subject to protest "England conceded a penalty corner, which was successfully defended and counter-attacked, but this took place against an extra player".

Philip Kimberley, England Hockey chairman and Head of Delegation for England at the World Cup, said: "It is most regrettable that we have been place in this position, but we believed it was appropriate to invoke the process that exists for these situations.

"We feel it is important that the facts are in the public domain and to ensure that the management of games is tightened up to avoid a repetition of this situation.

"Following discussion with the management team, we owed it to the players to make this protest as we strongly feel that the game was materially affected."

In response, the international federation said: "The FIH regrets this unfortunate incident and commends England Hockey, their players and management team on their sportsmanship in dealing with this matter.

"Argentina offer their sincere apologies for this unintentional and unfortunate incident.

"The FIH intends to review procedures related to this matter to ensure this situation does not occur in the future."

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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