2020 OLYMPIC GAMES HOCKEY: Pakistan most likely to miss Tokyo trip

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s chances of featuring in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics hockey tournament seem done and dusted as the Greenshirts have been left out of the second and last leg of the pre-qualifying round to be held in Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (France) from June 15-23.

The International Hockey Federation (FIH) announced teams for the second leg on Wednesday.

The only — and almost an unrealistic chance — left for Pakistan to reach the 2020 Olympics is to improve their FIH ranking manifold in the next four months.

After missing the first leg in India, it was generally believed that Pakistan would be included in the second leg of the pre-qualifiers.

After noting that Pakistan’s name was not included for the tournament in France, this correspondent contacted FIH’s Senior Communication Manager Nicolas Maingot to find out why the former Olympic and world champions were not among the competing teams.

Nicolas Maingot replied: “With the announcement of the non-participation of Pakistan in the 2019 FIH Pro League back in January, it was not possible to integrate the Asian team in the FIH Series Finals.

“Firstly, Pakistan has not played the Hockey Series Open which enabled teams to qualify to the FIH Series Finals. Secondly, when the Hockey Series competition format was agreed, Pakistan was not part of the teams accessing directly to the FIH Series Finals — based on their position in the FIH World Rankings — since Pakistan had applied to play in the FIH Pro League.

“A qualification for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 is however still possible for Pakistan. It will depend on the team’s position in the FIH World Rankings when all continental championships will have been completed (8 September 2019).”

Considering his reply it seems almost impossible for Pakistan to improve their ranking and be in a position to qualify for the Olympics. Only 12 top teams will qualify for Tokyo 2020 and amongst them four places are reserved for the continental champions.

Currently all top teams are busy playing the pro league or qualifiers sans Pakistan. That means that in four months’ time Pakistan’s ranking will drop further instead of getting any better.

Pulling out of the FIH Pro League after signing a MoU is considered a big jolt to Pakistan hockey. It would have been a better option not to sign for the Pro League and instead try their luck in the Pro Series where expenditures would have been affordable and rival teams relatively weaker. Once they signed the Pro League contract every effort should have been made to participate in the tournament. The no show has already cost Pakistan Rs25 million in fine.

Meanwhile, the teams announced for the French leg of the pre-qualifying round are: Pool A: Ireland, Egypt, Scotland, Singapore. Pool B: France, south Korea, Ukraine, Chile.