India’s chief coach Harendra Singh Thursday blamed poor umpiring for his team’s early ouster from the ongoing men’s hockey World Cup here.

He said the International Hockey Federation needs to seriously address the issue as his side has been on the receiving end of poor on-field decisions twice this year.

Aiming to rewrite history after a hiatus of 43 years, India lost 1-2 to the Netherlands in the fourth and last quarterfinal, crashing out in front of a packed Kalinga Stadium.

Harendra said it’s high time the FIH reviews the performance of umpires.

“Can anyone define Amit Rohidas’s 10-min yellow card? What about this gentleman , when he was pushed from behind? Why not a yellow card there? We have lost two major tournaments this year because of umpiring.

“Two times we got a card when we hadn’t done anything. But when it happened against us, they said nothing. They need to improve. We have lost two major tournaments,” he added.

The India coach, however, said he will not lodge any protest and accept the result.

“99.8 percent the referral goes in favour of players. The outcome of a protest has never been good in my career. We accept this gracefully. We want neutral umpiring. I expect both teams to be treated equally. One wrong decision can ruin your preparation of 4-6 years,” he said.

India captain Manpreet Singh too was utterly disappointed with the outcome and said there is no point in lodging a protest now.

“The team had put in all the effort, but it didn’t happen. I am happy that all boys gave their 100 per cent and were not short on confidence.”

Harendra said it was an equal contest but missed chances hurt India badly.

“We played well in patches but I will give 7 out of 10 on temperament to my team.”

Criticising the on-field umpires, Harendra further said he didn’t think the penalty corner from which Netherlands scored their winner, was right.

“The penalty corner which they got, I don’t agree with it,” he said.

Netherlands coach Max Caldas, however, disagreed with his Indian counterpart and said it is not wise to blame the umpires after a defeat.

“The team with most chances wins the game. We won the game. That’s the bottom line. In the end, the umpires didn’t play the game. We never discuss umpires after a game, we talk about our own performance,” he said.