A WORLD class tournament, but with B Grade umpires is what five out of the seven coaches at the Azlan Shah Cup are peeved about.
India, Pakistan, South Korea Australia and a polite Malaysian coach have all lamented how their team was penalised because of poor decisions taken by the umpires.
South Korean coach Shin Seok Kyo, Australian coach Ric Charlesworth, India coach Harendra Singh and Pakistan coach Khawaja Junaid have never been so vocal on umpires in previous tournaments.
"It is a shame that world class teams, four of whom have qualified for the Olympics, are playing in the Azlan Shah Cup but poor quality umpires have been selected to officiate.
"Teams have spent much time and money to prepare sides, and many poorly executed decisions have led to defeats and many other problems on the field," said Harendra.
Ric, normally reserved about the umpires, was also in his element when he said: "I had praised the umpires earlier, but feel otherwise now. They seem to have their own interpretations on hockey rules and its a shame."
The Australian guided his side to the World Cup, Champions Trophy and Commonwealth Games gold medals and is normally reserved about commenting on the umpires.
As for Malaysian coach Tai Beng Hai, he was poilte on his assessment.
"I don't like to comment about the umpires, but you can see for yourself how matches are being handled by them."
The Azlan Shah Cup is a world class tournament, and the coaches are hoping that in the next edition, the International Hockey Federation will not use it to experiment with their coaching set-up.
