Bhubaneswar: The Pakistan hockey team faced heckles and jeers from the crowd and a protest from the 'Odisha Suraksha Sena' here before the FIH Men's Champions Trophy final on Sunday, after their shameless celebrations on beating India in the semi-finals a day earlier.
Members of the 'Odisha Suraksha Sena' protested outside the Kalinga Stadium, holding banners that condemned Pakistan team's obscene behaviour. "Ban terrorist country Pakistan," said one of the placards.
The security for the match had been considerably beefed up for the match.
The crowd also turned up in numbers to first support India in the bronze-medal match against Australia and then stayed on to back Germany and let Pakistan know of their annoyance.
The Pakistan contingent chose to come out on the pitch one by one as the upset crowd shouted anti-Pakistan slogans and jeered everytime a player or a team official entered the blue turf from the dugout, which is located just beneath the huge East Stand at the Kalinga Stadium here.
The upset fans welcomed the Germans with a huge applause and at times even cheered "Germany, Germany" just like it had been a norm here during India matches.
India's loss to Australia in the third-place playoff probably added to the fans' discontent as they told Pakistan team in no uncertain terms that what they did will never be acceptable.
Pakistan celebrated the semi-final win over India by taking their shirts off and showing middle fingers to the crowd and the media present in the stadium. To this, Hockey India reacted strongly, which led to an investigation by the FIH.
Two Pakistan players, Amjad Ali and Muhammad Tousiq, were suspended for the final, while Shafqat Rasool was officially reprimanded. All three players were found in breach of a Level 1 offence according to the FIH Code of Conduct.
Pakistan lost the final 2-0.
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