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Gone in 7.3 seconds: How the India-Pakistan umpires went by the letter of the law

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'All penalty calls were correct' - Oltmans (2:30)

Pakistan hockey coach Roelant Oltmans talks about the draw against India. (2:30)

The big talking point of Saturday's 2-2 men's hockey draw between India and Pakistan was what appeared to be a couple of contentious video umpiring calls, inside the last 10 seconds of the game, that went against India. The decisions, which allowed Pakistan to level the scores, were criticised across media but in fact the criticism seems to be based on a flawed understanding of the rules - under the laws this tournament is following, the umpires got it absolutely right.

With the clock winding down to 7.3 seconds, a Pakistan attack down the right led to a referral being sought by them even as India cleared their lines. The decision went in Pakistan's favour for a penalty corner. The visuals on the replays weren't very clear on whether there was an Indian foot inside the circle. The first attempt at the PC was saved by India keeper PR Sreejesh, and as Rupinder Pal Singh set up to clear his lines, Pakistan went up in an appeal suggesting the ball had brushed India's Gurinder Singh as the clearance was effected (You can watch the full sequence from 2:55 on the highlights video below).

The referral was upheld, which sparked criticism on commentary and in social media because the replay angles appeared to suggest no touch on Gurinder and a clean clearance by Rupinder.

However, hockey's rules vary according to the tournament and the rules for the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games say the video umpire got it right. Article 5.3 of Appendix 9 of the tournament rules advises the match officials to take into account any "breach of the rules observed" in the course of a team referral - essentially meaning that, while looking at the specific infringement being investigated, the video umpires can take into account any other infringement they may notice. The replay showed what looked like a stick check on Ali Shan inside the circle so the umpire, while looking for a foot inside the circle, might have spotted this and upheld the referral.