Bhubaneswar: Odisha defender Amit Rohidas is all set to miss India’s men’s hockey semifinal against Germany at Paris Olympics 2024 on Tuesday.
Suspension of the key defender and first rusher became a talking point of 10-man India’s dramatic 4-2 win in the shoot-out against Great Britain in the quarterfinal on Sunday. Rohidas was shown the red card in second quarter of the match after he inadvertently hit Will Calnan’s face while trying to evade him.
In a wild twist of events, his suspension letter was written by one of technical delegates to the FIH at the Paris Olympics Joshua Burt, who played Australia’s head coach in Shah Rukh Khan classic ‘Chak De India’.
“Amit Rohidas was suspended for one match for a breach of the FIH Code of Conduct which occurred during the India vs Great Britain match on August 4. The suspension affects match No. 35 (India’s semi-final match against Germany), where Amit Rohidas will not participate and India will play with a squad of 15 players only,” the statement, authored by Burt, read.
Josua Burt’s suspension letter of Rohidas. It meant his is a Level I offence. Now, on Ind’s protest, FIH Disciplinary Committee can reverse d ruling or uphold. Coincidentally, Burt was involved when 5 Ind plyrs were suspended in ’11! He acted as Aus Coach in Chak De india film pic.twitter.com/NE9EcOE4qW
— stick2hockey.com (@indianhockey) August 5, 2024
The FIH had earlier rejected India’s appeal against his one-match suspension.
Burt’s character famously faced a crushing defeat at the hands of the Indian women’s hockey team. He was portrayed as the main villain, who gave Team India a tough time.
Soon, Indian fans took to social media and slammed him, calling him a “Real-life villain.”
𝑅𝑒𝑒𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑙 𝑣𝑖𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑖𝑛? 🤔
Joshua Burt,who played the Australian coach in ‘Chak De! India’,is now the Technical Delegate for FIH at #ParisOlympics2024,and is the official who wrote the suspension letter for Amit Rohidas’ offence in yesterday’s match
— Ayan Mukherjee 🇮🇳 (@I_AyanMukherjee) August 5, 2024
Fun Fact: @Olympics Hockey Tournament Director Joshua Burt (who confirmed the one-match ban on Amit Rohidas) also played the role of the Australian Women’s Team coach in Chak De India. Insane!#Olympics #Paris2024 #Hockey
— Nakul Kamath (@naxical13) August 4, 2024
Fun Fact: Olympics Hockey Tournament Director Joshua Burt (who confirmed the one-match ban on Amit Rohidas) also played the role of the Australian Women’s Team coach in Chak De India. Insane 😡 #Paris2024 #Hockey pic.twitter.com/4SD77V3D4I
— Xavier Lite (@Xavier_21199) August 5, 2024
Guyssss
The person who penned the suspension letter for Indian hockey player Amit Rohidas……Is the same person who played the role of rival Australian woman coach in Chak De india movie 😶😵😵
His name is Joshua BurtThis is wild 😂😂😂
— Ravi D (@ravidgll) August 6, 2024
