Russian hockey club cancels Pakistan trip

KARACHI: In the wake the of unfortunate Lahore blast, Russian based Dinamo Field Hockey Club cancelled its tour of Pakistan.

Dinamo Field Hockey Club, based in Ekaterinburg Region in Russia, was scheduled to reach Karachi on March 31 to play four matches against Pakistan junior hockey team.

However, the club management emailed Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Wednesday that it has canceled its trip to the country.

“We received an email from the club, which said it regrets to cancel the tour. We had made all the arrangements but the unfortunate blast in Lahore has kept the club team from touring Pakistan,” Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, secretary PHF told PPI.

He said that it had been a bit difficult task to convince a foreign club to tour Pakistan. “It is difficult to revive hockey in the country without foreign teams touring the country. However, such unfortunate and tragic incidents have been keeping foreign teams away from Pakistan. So, it is very difficult to embark on a mission to revive the game.”

PHF had also canceled practice matches between senior and junior teams after the bomb blast.

However, Shahbaz said that the senior team has been practicing for upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which will be held in Malaysia from April 6.

“Our players have been practicing and preparing for the tournament and it is an international commitment, so we thought it was not good to back out from the tournament at the last moment. Our players will feature in the tournament with full force,” he added.