The hockey section of the SA Games was in turmoil at the end of the third day on Wednesday, after SA Sports commissioner Dan Moyo overturned the decision taken by the tournament director, Mark Taljard, on Monday to penalise provinces that had included provincial players in their squads.
Taljard informed the provinces that in terms of the rules governing the competition, as laid down by the South African Hockey Association (Saha), they would be stripped of their points should they include provincial players in their playing line-ups.
Both the boys’ and girls’ teams of North Cape and the girls team of North West would not have been able to field a team without the inclusion of their provincial players. The girls of KwaZulu-Natal and the boys’ team of North West were able to survive without their provincial players.
All transgressing teams were informed that their matches would be played as friendlies and their opponents credited with 5-0 victories.
However, Moyo on Wednesday overruled Saha’s decision.
Both Eastern Cape teams retained their unbeaten records with 3-1 victories over their Free State counterparts. North West girls did well to annex three points from their two outings, which resulted in a 2-1 victory over Western Cape and a 2-2 draw with North West.
In other matches KwaZulu-Natal girls hammered Western Cape 6-1, Western Cape boys had a 2-0 victory over KwaZulu-Natal and North Cape was triumphant over North West with a 4-1 score. — Sapa