Playing in India

Pakistan’s hockey team could not take part in the previous editions of the World Cup and the Olympic Games. There was a simple reason for the country’s absence from the two mega events: its team could not qualify for them. Pakistan’s hockey team will also be absent from the Junior Hockey World Cup which will get underway in Lucknow from December 8. However, Pakistan did earn the right to play in the 16-team competition as their team qualified for the Junior World Cup. The simple reason behind Pakistan’s ouster is that India is staging the tournament and is averse to the idea of hosting its adversary at a time when political tensions between the two neighbours are running high. This is an unfortunate situation. Saner decision-makers would have jumped at the opportunity of having Pakistan playing an international sports event in India as it could have helped diffuse growing border tensions. But it seems that there are no sane decision-makers in Modi’s India. The Indians have tried to act smart by using the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to block Pakistan’s entry in the Junior World Cup.

The announcement that Pakistan has been replaced by Malaysia in the event came from the FIH on the pretext that the Pakistanis failed to apply for Indian visas before the given deadline. It was farcical considering that the Indian High Commission in Islamabad sat on Pakistan’s visa applications for several days. In the end it didn’t issue them the visas. It was clearly India’s duty to have made sure that all participating teams received permission to travel to the country. The FIH should have taken the Indians to task but the federation is helpless when it comes to India. Just like in cricket, India is the financial engine of international hockey. More recently, India’s Narinder Batra became the first Asian to head the FIH. The writing has been on the wall for Pakistan since Batra’s election as FIH president. However, all of this doesn’t absolve the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). It is the PHF’s duty to fight for the cause of Pakistan hockey and in this particular case it has failed to do so. The PHF has reportedly been pondering to the take up the case with the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) in Geneva as well as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but is yet to do it. The PHF should come into action without wasting any more time. Pakistan hockey has been down for quite some time and further blows will only make things worse. Next year’s Asia Cup and the 2018 World Cup are scheduled to be held in India and if Pakistan fails to take up the matter properly then its team’s participation in these two international events will also be in jeopardy.