Karachi: Pakistan on Tuesday accused India of winning the Asia Cup hockey tournament in Chennai through biased and partial umpiring decisions.

In an unusually hard-hitting statement, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) spokesman Altaf Sabir said India could gloat over their victory but the result could have gone in favour of other teams if the umpiring had been fair and just.

India won the 11-nation tournament by beating South Korea 7-1 in the final although the match was marred by a walkout by the Koreans protesting the umpiring decisions.

“The final between Korea and India was the glaring example of this show which was tainted by biased decisions,” Sabir said.

“Such was the state of umpiring that at one time the Korean team walked off the field and refused to proceed further because the umpire from Ghana had disallowed their goal which could have put them back into contention,” he added.

According to the PHF spokesman, there must have been some understanding between the FIH-appointed technical director and the Indian Hockey Federation officials that a weak umpire from Ghana was given such an important assignment.

The fact that Sabir’s allegation came well over a week after the final is a bit surprising. Reacting sharply to the PHF’s allegation, the Indian officials said it was “a bundle of lies.”