PHF seeks govt support for juniors training camp bio-secure bubble

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has sent a communiqué to IPC minister Dr Fahmida Mirza and National Command and Operation Center (NCOC) to help it organise the last phase of Pakistan juniors training in Karachi for Junior Asia Cup which is to be played in Dhaka in early June.

PHF secretary Asif Bajwa told ‘The News’ on Thursday that PHF was seeking the permission and help of competent authorities in this regard.

PHF has decided in principle to create a bio-secure bubble for the training camp, which is planned to be held at Abdul Sattar Edhi hockey stadium in Karachi.

The PHF secretary said that less than two months time was left before the Junior Asia Cup. The event doubles up as a qualifying round for the Junior World Cup 2022.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan missed the last Junior World Cup 2016 because of Indian government’s scheming.

Pakistan juniors have not played against any quality team for a long time and there are no chances for any such matches before Asia Cup because of coronavirus. The only option for PHF to prepare them is dometic events and training camps.

Bajwa said that PHF had assured all the authorities that Covid-19 protocols would be strictly followed.

He said all training and preparation so far done would go waste if the last phase of training was not held.

He was hopeful that PHF would receive a positive response from the ministry of IPC and NCOC in a couple of days.

Sources said that the number of participants of the training camp was likely to be reduced or the camp could be organised for groups of players.

The camp commandment and team manager Danish Kaleem has said that he is waiting for the directives of PHF.