NEW DELHI: India striker Shivendra Singh was yesterday banned for three matches and Pakistan’s Irfan Muhammad for one game for different violations in the men’s hockey World Cup.

Shivendra was handed the suspension by tournament director Ken Read for hitting Pakistan’s Fareed Ahmed above the eye in Sunday’s Group B clash between the Asian rivals.

Read penalised Irfan for wearing an unapproved glove and knee pad to defend the first penalty corner in the same match, a statement from the International Hockey Federation (FIH) said.

Shivendra will miss India’s key Group B matches against Australia, Spain and England, but will be available for the last game against South Africa.

Irfan will sit out of Pakistan’s match against Spain today.

Shivendra, who scored a goal in India’s em phatic 4-1 win on Monday, was charged under a level 2 offence of FIH’s code of conduct which deals with physical assault without causing serious injury.

Read said he handed the three-match suspension after video replays suggested that Shivendra had hit Fareed deliberately, even though the on-field umpires did not penalise the player during the match.

Pakistan’s Irfan was suspended following manager Asif Bajwa’s admission that the offending glove and knee padjavascript:void(0) were not taken to the technical committee for approval before the tournament.

The 12-nation tournament in the Indian capital ends on March 13. — AFP