Pakistan to compete in Nations Cup Hockey

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has confirmed its participation in the FIH Hockey Nations Cup (men’s) which will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, from June 15-21 this year.

The tournament involves eight of the best backup teams aiming to make it to the FIH Pro League next year. Teams include France, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa and Wales.

This line-up for the Nations Cup is awe-inspiring, with all teams but Pakistan having participated in the last FIH Hockey Men’s World Cup in 2023. “Every effort will be made to raise a competitive team for the Nations Cup which is of immediate interest for Pakistan hockey,” Rana Mujahid, secretary of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), when contacted, said.

Commenting on the Nations Cup, Subahan bin Kamal, the president of the Malaysian Hockey Confederation said: “The Malaysian Hockey Confederation is delighted and privileged to host the FIH Hockey Nations Cup 2024-25 in Kuala Lumpur. We are grateful to FIH in entrusting us to host this amazing event for the very first time.

We are excited and believe this tournament will definitely bring the best of world hockey talents to Malaysia. We would also like to thank our Honourable Sports Minister Ms Hannah Yeoh in supporting our effort in hosting this event.”

FIH President Tayyab Ikram added: “It’s a true delight to go back to Malaysia with one of our major events. Our hosts have always been wonderful hockey tournament organisers and the same will prevail again for this Men’s Nations Cup that will qualify the winners for the next edition of the FIH Hockey Pro League”

The FIH Hockey Nations Cup was launched in 2021 with the aim of offering a top-level competition to the best-ranked teams not participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League and giving the winning team the option to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League the next season, precisely.

Meanwhile, the Executive Board (EB) of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) held its first meeting of the year over the weekend at the FIH office in Lausanne, Switzerland, under the chairmanship of FIH President Tayyab Ikram who opened the meeting with congratulatory words to the EB members and the National Associations (NAs) for a very successful 2024.

The exceptional year included the Centenary of FIH, the Paris 2024 Olympics, the very first FIH Hockey5s World Cup, and the 49th FIH Congress, the NA Summits as well as numerous development activities and other events organized by hockey’s world governing body.

The meeting continued with a detailed review of the preparations for the next edition of the FIH Hockey World Cup for Women and Men which will be hosted by Belgium and the Netherlands in 2026.

A delegation from the co-hosts met with the FIH Team at the FIH office last week to discuss the main strategic and operational topics of the event. The FIH Indoor Hockey World Cup held in Pore, Croatia, was the first FIH event to be played in 2025. Croatia were hosting their first-ever FIH World Cup and it was a true success.

Detailed updates were given to the Board about the upcoming events, namely the FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup Malaysia 2024-25 (Kuala Lumpur, 15-21 June), the FIH Hockey Women’s Nations Cup 2 Poland 2024-25 (Walcz, 16-22 June), the FIH Hockey Women’s Junior World Cup Chile 2025 (Santiago, 1-13 December) and the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup that will be played in the cities of Chennai and Madurai, India, from 28 November to 10 December 2025.