CHENNAI: It’s official. Pakistan will not feature in the Junior Hockey World Cup in Lucknow in December. The international hockey federation (FIH) has said in its website that it has “invited the Malaysian junior men’s team to take part in the Junior World Cup from 8 to 18 December...after FIH had to officially withdraw Pakistan’s invitation
to the event.”
There have been speculations that Pakistan will not come to India due to recent political unrest between the two countries. The FIH says its “decision follows considerable discussions with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and requests for confirmation that they had the necessary arrangements in place to be able to participate
in the event.
Visas had been applied for after the official deadline and no accommodation was confirmed within the
set deadlines. Despite a number of correspondence and reminders, the PHF was not able to show that their
team would be able to travel to Lucknow for the event which begins in only a few days’ time.”