Pakistan, June 25 -- Before Pakistan and India met in the FIH Pro League, the Pakistan flag displayed during the anthem ceremony was wrong. The white stripe was missing. The match then went the way too many Pakistan hockey matches now go: India won 4-3, Pakistan fought late, and the result extended a losing streak to 13 matches and relegated the side from the next edition of the FIH Pro League. On Tuesday, minutes after the conclusion of the fixture, International Hockey Federation apologised to the Pakistan Hockey Federation and accepted responsibility for what it called an operational mistake.

The temptation in such moments is to choose between outrage and dismissal. Both are inadequate. There is no need to invent a conspiracy where ad...