29th Olympic Games, Beijing, China
Appeal Jury
Applicant: Yibo MA
Appeal Jury : Annabel Dillon, President
Sue Neill, Member
Dave Carr, Member
The Appeal Jury convened a hearing at 10.30 pm on the 19 August 2008 in accordance with articles 17 and 18 of the FIH Tournament Regulations of the 29th Olympic Games.
The Notice of Appeal by the Chinese Hockey Association on behalf of the Chinese Women’s Team Captain Yibo MA is dated 19 August 2008.
In relation to article 18.2 of the Tournament Regulations, the appeal is only against the penalty and thereby against the decision of the Technical Delegate (TD) issued on 19 August 2008 whereby Yibo MA is suspended for one match (Germany v China) scheduled to be played on 20 August 2008.
Yibo MA did not attend the hearing and was represented by:
Zhaocai DU, Team Manager, Chinese Women’s’ Hockey team.
In attendance:
Yuxiang LIU, Interpreter.
Jurisdiction of the Appeal Jury
The Appeal Jury notes articles 17 and 18 of the Tournament Regulations in particular article 18.6:
“The appeal shall not be by way of re-hearing of the evidence. It shall be limited to a review of the decision of the Technical Delegate to ensure compliance with the Guidelines and principles of natural justice.”
Discussion
The Jury reviewed the Decision of the TD in which she imposed a suspension on the Chinese Women’s Team Captain (player #1) for one match (Germany v China) scheduled to be played on 20 August 2008. This was on the grounds that she “was responsible for controlling the behaviour of the team players and failed to ensure that the appropriate protocols were followed”.
The Jury considered the written and oral submissions presented by the Chinese Hockey Association in which they indicated that an inappropriate penalty had been given to Yibo MA in that she had “made an effort to prevent player #10 of the Chinese team from approaching the umpire and any further dispute from Chinese players on the issue” which occurred in minute 66 of the match referred to in the TD’s decision.
The Jury further reviewed the video of the last ten minutes of the match China v Australia which is the subject of the appeal. The Jury did not see significant breaches of the Code of Conduct to warrant the penalty imposed on the captain.
However, the Jury noted the finding of the TD confirmed by the admission of the Chinese delegation and the video clips of the match that player #10 had physically made contact with the umpire and that this player had already received a yellow card from the umpire for this action.
The Jury also noted the previous Disciplinary Hearing Decision issued by the TD concerning Match W02 of 10 August 2008, China versus Spain in which the Spanish Team players were ruled to be in breach of the FIH Code of Conduct as follows:
2.a: disputing, protesting and/or reacting in a provocative or disapproving manner in an inappropriate way toward any decision made by an umpire or official;
2.b: charging or advancing towards an umpire or technical official in an aggressive manner when appealing.
In this case there was no suspension imposed on the captain.
Decision
On the basis of the foregoing, the Appeal Jury rules that:
1 the appeal is upheld;
2 the penalty is remitted and there is therefore no suspension imposed on Yibo MA;
3 player #10 (Lihua GAO) is given a severe reprimand for making physical contact with the umpire and warned that any further incident involving similar behaviour would be considered a level 2 offence in accordance with Appendix III of the Tournament Regulations;
4 the deposit shall be refunded.
Annabel Dillon, President, FIH Appeal Jury
Beijing, 01.10 hours, 20 August 2008
