From reel villain to real villian, Joshua Burt has played it all for Indian Hockey and has once again entered the spotlight after India’s quarterfinal bout against Great Britain.
On Saturday, controversy erupted when India was involved in a thrilling win over Great Britain, a bout which witnessed a few wrong calls affecting India’s outing at the Yves-du-Manoir Stadium. The Men in Blue played for most of 3 quarters with 10 men as Amit Rohidas was given a red card. However, the game ended in a 1-1 draw after which India defeated Great Britain 4-2 in the shootouts.
With the semifinal approaching, it was pivotal for India to retain their sqaud in full strength, and hence Hockey India appealed to the FIH to overturn the decision. But, the decision was upheld and now Amit shall remain suspended for the semifinal against Germany.
In a wild twist of events though, what was learnt was that it was none other than Joshua Burt, the actor who portrayed the role of the coach of the Australian Women’s hockey team in the Shah Rukh Khan classic ‘Chak De India’, who penned the suspension letter for Amit Rohidas, as a technical delegate to the FIH at the Paris Olympics.
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
“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 statement, authored by Burt, read.
“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.”
Burt, who was born in Melbourne, has been involved in hockey off-screen as well, having coached, amanged, officiated in the sport at an elite level and having been part of offciating teams in both the Rio and Tokyo Olympics.
Red card to Rohidas
Defender Amit Rohidas received a red card on the 17th minute of the match. He was trying to run with the ball and was being challenged by Will Calnan. However, the Indian defender’s stick was in an unnatural position and hit Calnan on the head.
The referees had a thorough discussion and gave a red card to Rohidas. Despite playing a significant part of the game with a man short, Harmanpreet Singh-led India took the game to shootouts where thumped Great Britain, making it to a second consecutive Olympics semi-final.
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