FIH Men's Junior WC: France's Raife Gonessa suspended, to miss 3rd-place match against India

France's Raife Gonessa has been suspended and he will now miss the 3rd-place match against India on Sunday in the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021.

Following an incident leading to a breach of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Code of Conduct that occurred immediately after Friday's semi-final between Argentina and France, French player Raife Gonessa was suspended by FIH Technical Delegate Adam Webster.

"Furthermore, the case will be referred to the FIH CEO for further consideration by the FIH Disciplinary Commissioner," a statement by FIH stated.

Team India will go head-to-head against France once again at the Men's Junior World Cup as both teams battle it out for a third-place finish. The two teams had opened their campaign against each other in the tournament on 24 November in a hard-fought match that France won 5-4.

After the loss against France, India went on to pick up three straight wins at the FIH Odisha Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Bhubaneswar 2021, defeating Canada 13-1, Poland 8-2, and Belgium 1-0, but lost in the semi-final match 2-4 to Germany, missing out on the chance to play the Final against Argentina.

Meanwhile, France also had a tremendous tournament, as they won all their Group B games, defeating India 5-4, Poland 7-1, and Canada 11-1. In the quarter-Final, the Frenchmen beat a defensively strong Malaysia 4-0. But their hopes to win the trophy ended after they lost in the semi-final to Argentina 1-3 (0-0) via Shoot-outs.

( With inputs from ANI )