Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Field hockey at the 1972 Summer Olympics

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Competitors
  
263 from 16 nations

Venue
  
Hockeyanlage at Olympiapark

Dates
  
August 27 – September 10, 1972

This tournament is remembered for the first victory of a European nation since 1920 and the behaviour of the players of Pakistan after losing the final, which included wearing their silver medals on their feet during the medal ceremony, turning their backs to the West German flag and destroying their locker room, while Pakistani fans stormed the field, assaulted security personnel and poured water over Rene Frank, the president of the International Hockey Federation.

Contents

The eleven Pakistani players were banned for life from their national team, but after a high-level apology the ban was reduced to two years. Final results for the Hockey competition at the 1972 Summer Olympics:

Group A


August 27, 1972

  • West Germany – Belgium 5-1 (3-1)
  • Pakistan – France 3-0 (1-0)
  • Malaysia – Uganda 3-1 (1-0)
  • Spain – Argentina 1-1 (0-1)

    • August 28, 1972

  • West Germany – Malaysia 1-0 (1-0)
  • Belgium – Argentina 1-1 (1-1)
  • Pakistan – Spain 1-1 (1-1)
  • France – Uganda 3-1 (1-0)

    • August 29, 1972

  • Pakistan – Uganda 3-1 (2-0)
  • Spain – Malaysia 0-0 (0-0)
  • Belgium – France 1-0 (1-0)
  • West Germany – Argentina 2-1 (2-0)

    • August 31, 1972

  • Pakistan – West Germany 1-2 (0-0)
  • Argentina – Uganda 0-0 (0-0)
  • Spain – Belgium 1-0 (0-0)
  • France – Malaysia 0-1 (0-1)

    • September 1, 1972

  • Spain – France 3-2 (3-1)
  • Pakistan – Argentina 3-1 (1-0)
  • West Germany – Uganda 1-1 (1-1)
  • Belgium – Malaysia 2-4 (1-3)

    • September 3, 1972

  • West Germany – Spain 2-1 (0-1)
  • Pakistan – Malaysia 3-0 (1-0)
  • France – Argentina 1-0 (1-0)
  • Belgium – Uganda 2-0 (0-0)

    • September 4, 1972

  • Spain – Uganda 2-2 (2-2)
  • Pakistan – Belgium 3-1 (1-1)
  • West Germany – France 4-0 (3-0)
  • Malaysia – Argentina 1-0 (0-0)

    • Group B


    August 27, 1972

  • India – Netherlands 1-1 (1-1)
  • Kenya – Poland 0-1 (0-1)
  • Australia – New Zealand 0-0 (0-0)
  • Great Britain – Mexico 6-0 (1-0)

    • August 28, 1972

  • Australia – Kenya 3-1 (1-0)
  • New Zealand – Mexico 7-0 (3-0)
  • India – Great Britain 5-0 (4-0)
  • Netherlands – Poland 4-2 (3-0)

    • August 30, 1972

  • Poland – Mexico 3-0 (1-0)
  • Netherlands – Kenya 5-1 (2-0)
  • New Zealand – Great Britain 2-1 (2-0)
  • Australia – India 1-3 (1-2)

    • August 31, 1972

  • Kenya – Great Britain 0-2 (0-1)
  • India – Poland 2-2 (1-0)
  • Netherlands – New Zealand 2-0 (1-0)
  • Australia – Mexico 10-0 (6-0)

    • September 2, 1972

  • India – Kenya 3-2 (0-1)
  • New Zealand – Poland 3-3 (1-2)
  • Australia – Great Britain 1-1 (1-1)
  • Netherlands – Mexico 4-0 (3-0)

    • September 3, 1972

  • Netherlands – Great Britain 1-3 (1-1)
  • Australia – Poland 1-0 (1-0)
  • India – Mexico 8-0 (4-0)
  • Kenya – New Zealand 2-2 (2-2)

    • September 4, 1972

  • Australia – Netherlands 2-3 (1-3)
  • Kenya – Mexico 2-1 (1-0)
  • India – New Zealand 3-2 (1-1)
  • Poland – Great Britain 1-2 (1-1)

    • Men's Semi Final Round

    September 7, 1972

  • Australia – Malaysia 2-1 (0-1)
  • Great Britain – Spain 2-0 (1-0)

    • September 8, 1972

  • West Germany – Netherlands 3-0 (1-0)
  • Pakistan – India 2-0 (2-0)

    • Men's Classification Matches

    September 7, 1972

  • 15th/16th place: Uganda – Mexico 4-1 (1-1)
  • 13th/14th place: Argentina – Kenya 0-1 (0-0) after extra time

    • September 8, 1972

  • 11th/12th place: France – Poland 4-7 (2-1) after extra time
  • 9th/10th place: Belgium – New Zealand 1-2 (0-0)

    • September 9, 1972

  • 7th/8th place: Malaysia – Spain 1-2 (0-2)
  • 5th/6th place: Australia – Great Britain 2-1 (0-0) after extra time

    • Men's Bronze Medal Match

    September 10, 1972

    Men's Final

    September 10, 1972

    Final rankings

    1.  West Germany
    2.  Pakistan
    3.  India
    4.  Netherlands
    5.  Australia
    6.  Great Britain
    7.  Spain
    8.  Malaysia
    9.  New Zealand
    10.  Belgium
    11.  Poland
    12.  France
    13.  Kenya
    14.  Argentina
    15.  Uganda
    16.  Mexico

    Remarks:

  • Men's competition only in 1972
  • It was the first ever gold medal lost by either Pakistan or India, former rulers in this sport.
  • At the medal ceremony Pakistani players, as a protest against alleged biased and unfair decisions by the referee, put forth their foot to wear the medal then threw their silver medals at the floor and turned their backs as the German anthem played.

    • References

    Field hockey at the 1972 Summer Olympics Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA