Field hockey at the 1972 Summer Olympics

The field hockey tournament at the 1972 Summer Olympics was the 12th edition of the field hockey event at the Summer Olympics.^[1]

VenueHockeyanlage

Dates27 August – 10 September 1972 (1972-09-10)

Teams16

Quick facts Field hockey at the Games of the XX Olympiad, Venue ...

Field hockey at the Games of the XX Olympiad
Venue	Hockeyanlage
Dates	27 August – 10 September 1972 (1972-09-10)
Teams	16
Medalists
West Germany  Pakistan  India
← 1968 1976 →

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The West German victory was the first title by a European nation since 1920, but this was marred by the behavior of Pakistani players, fans, and officials: during the last ten minutes of the gold-medal match, the umpires had to stop play twice so that Pakistani fans who had invaded the pitch could be removed, while Pakistani players and officials repeatedly remonstrated with the umpires throughout that time.

At the final whistle, Pakistani fans and officials invaded the pitch and assaulted West German police and stadium security before storming the tournament officials' table and pouring a bucket of water over International Hockey Federation president Rene Frank, while the players stormed their locker room before proceeding to destroy it.

At the medal ceremony, the Pakistani players refused to wear their silver medals or face the West German flag as it was raised, and turned their backs as the West German national anthem was played.^[2]

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, and eight of them played at the 1976 Olympics.