Johannesburg

Monday

Mostly sunny. Mild.

12°C
26°C

7 day forecasts

Knickers in knot over undies

2008-08-20 10:14

Beijing - The Olympic dress code applies to places never seen, it seems, with the New Zealand hockey manager banished from the field at a crucial men's match because officials objected to his players' underwear.

Kevin Marr was ordered to watch the must-win match against Germany from the grandstand as punishment for three players wearing black underwear beneath white shorts in an earlier match.

Initially, the officials wanted to suspend the players involved - Bradley Shaw, Simon Child and Blair Hopping - but Marr successfully argued it was unfair because he was in charge of what they wore.

Issue for the Germans

Under the Olympic field hockey rules, shorts and undies must match, but New Zealand were in their alternate white strip in their earlier match against China and the players did not have alternate white undies.

Marr said: "They're pretty pedantic rulings. They're trying to ensure teams present themselves in the best possible light. I understand where the rule comes from, but to suspend players is wrong."

When the players wore the same undies against Germany it was not an issue for New Zealand, who wore their regulation black uniform, but the colour switch is going to be an issue for the Germans who won 3-1 to make the semi-finals.

Threatened with suspension

The Germans had to switch from their usual black shorts to their alternate red, but with red undies apparently hard to come by they stuck with black underneath.

Marr said he had been contacted by German manager Jochen Heimpel who said the indiscretion had been noticed and his players were initially threatened with suspension from their semi-final.

Germany were likely cop it worse than New Zealand, as a warning was issued to all sides after the Kiwis were caught and Marr expected Heimpel to face a two-match suspension.

- SAPA

inside news24

Weather
Traffic
Lottery
Cpt: 18-29°C Sunny. Warm. Pta: 15-29°C More sun than clouds. Pleasantly warm.
Jhb: 12-26°C Mostly sunny. Mild. Bloem: 14-28°C Sunny. Pleasantly warm.
Dbn: 19-23°C Drizzle. More sun than clouds. Cool. PE: 16-24°C More sun than clouds. Mild.
7 day forecasts...

Jobs - Find your dream job

Accountant

Western Cape - Cape Town
Media24

Art Director - Digital

Western Cape
Bridgena Barnard Personnel Group
R20,000-25,000 Per Month Basic Salary

Admin Manager - Life Insurance

Gauteng - Johannesburg
Pinpoint One Human Resources (Pty) Ltd
R360,000-460,000 Per Annum Cost To Company

Cars - Search 1000's of new and used cars

AUDI

2008 A4 1.8T Multitronics from R 269 000

FORD

Bantam 1600 PU MY92
2000
R 43,995.00

AUDI

TT Roadster Quattro 3.2 DSG
2005
R 249,000.00

SEAT

Leon 2.0 FSi 5-dr
2008
R 173,995.00

Property - Find a new home

BALLITO

Multiple Unit R3,565,000

HONEYDEW MANOR

Single Residential R1,699,000

BIRCHLEIGH EXT 1

Single Residential R860,000

Travel - Look, Book, Go!

Free Games - TOO MUCH NEWS? TAKE A BREAK!

Kalahari.net - shop online today

Great Festive Savings on Books

Up to 30% Off ALL Books. 2.3 million titles on SALE.

Sleek New iPod Range. Order Your's Now!

iPod nano 16GB - Black, Was R2,499.00 Now R2,299.00! Save R200!

Up to 40% off Fabulous Festive Flicks

46 000 DVDs and Blu-Ray on sale now! Pre-order Up and District 9!

Up to 20% off ALL Music

100s of festive new releases now in stock! Now, Bump 25, Bon Jovi & more!

1000s of Festive Toys on Sale

Lots of Toys, free gift wrap, lowest prices on Lego Mindstorm, Ben 10, Hannah Montana & more!

Hot Deal of the Day!

All DVDs on Sale

Up to 40% Off 46 000 Titles

District 9, UP, Ice Age, Transformers, Life & more!

Up to 40% Off Sale on All Books, Toys, CDs, DVDs & Games!