Lengthy waits at penalty corners look set to continue in the Premier Division for the second half of the season.
Old Georgians coach Mike Hughes called into question some teams’ tardy preparation at PCD, which goes against the international ruling for 40 seconds when time is stopped.
But it seems as if there is no competition update to England Hockey rules.
Hughes said Premier Division rules should be brought into line “with every other half decent nation” by limiting corner defence to 40 seconds.
In a series of tweets before the Christmas break, Hughes posted video evidence of teams with “3x the suggested limit”.
“It’s an easy win. I don’t understand why we can’t control the level,” Hughes told The Hockey Paper.
Although Hughes admitted that “safety was paramount”, he added: “For the good of the game can we look at putting a sensible timing in place?”
For the recent Super 6s indoors, England Hockey rulings had a 20-second rule in place for penalty corners.
The rule stated: “If the delay in taking the Penalty Corner is more than 30 seconds and in the opinion of the umpire an undue delay is occurring, then the umpire should identify and award a personal penalty to the player who is responsible for the delay
For the outdoor game, FIH rules stipulate: “When a penalty corner is awarded, time is stopped for 40 seconds, except in the case of re-awards or penalty corners awarded after a Video Umpire referral.”
