The Pakistan Hockey Federation has postponed the three-nation hockey series it had planned later in the month in its buildup for the London Olympics, owning to the last minute withdrawal of India from the tournament.
Malaysia was the third team to participate in the event expected to be played in the second week of April.
The Indian Hockey Federation after initial conformations has now refused to participate due to security concerns.
PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said the decision by the IHF is not only ‘painful’ for the people of Pakistan but for the lovers of sport around the world.
He said that he was assured by the Pakistan government that foolproof security will be provided to the teams in Lahore during the April 9-13 tournament in which Malaysia was also participating.
Major international teams have stayed away from Pakistan since gunmen attacked the Sri Lanka cricket team bus at Lahore in March 2009.
“It is with deep regret that we have to announce that India has said it can`t send its team for the competition,” PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said.
“In the last two years, we have been to India several times and have invited them to come to Pakistan and assured them full hospitality and security. Unfortunately neither the federation nor their government has responded to us in the same way,” a disappointed Bajwa said. He said the IHF informed the PHF that their foreign ministry had advised them not to send the team to Pakistan due to security concerns.
“The Indian foreign ministry feels security situation in Pakistan are not ideal for international hockey that is why India is not coming,” he said. Bajwa said that they planned the tournament in Lahore only after getting confirmations from India and Malaysia. “Both teams said they would send their team. But we will not lose hope and try to keep on making efforts to organize international events in Pakistan. The tour by China in December last year showed that there were no security issues for international teams playing in Pakistan. “We are obviously disappointed with this development because Malaysia had also first confirmed they would take part in the event and then pulled out two days back,” he added. Bajwa said after Malaysia`s withdrawal the PHF was hoping for a test series against India. “We were hopeful that we could at least host Test series with all matches planned in Lahore,” he said.
