
Pakistan Hockey Body Unwilling To Send Team To India For Asia Cup, Citing 'Security Risk'
"We have informed them our players are also not keen to travel to India for the Asia Cup which is also a direct qualifying tournament," he added.
The PHF chief said the ball is now in the court of the FIH and AHF to decide about the event and Pakistan's matches.
"We have asked them to let us know what guarantee is there that our players will be safe in India and will be able to focus on the tournament," he said.
The Pakistan government is yet to come out with an official statement on the issue but recently a senior government official said the team would not travel to India.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


The Hindu
16 minutes ago
- The Hindu
BCCI set to attend ACC meeting virtually
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is set to virtually attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC), to be held in Dhaka on Thursday. The meeting will seal the fate of the Asia Cup, scheduled to be hosted by India in September. Over the last week, in the backdrop of the political tension between India and Bangladesh, the BCCI had threatened to boycott the AGM. But on Wednesday, a senior BCCI functionary, preferring anonymity, confirmed to The Hindu that the BCCI will 'act as a big brother and attend the tournament virtually'. It is understood that besides BCCI, Sri Lanka Cricket will also attend the proceedings through videoconferencing. It is also understood that attempts were made to have Afghanistan and Oman to skip the AGM in order to ensure lack of a quorum at the AGM, but the ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi ensured the AGM wasn't in jeopardy. The BCCI thus agreed to join the proceedings. The AGM, in all likelihood, will confirm that the 2025 Asia Cup – uncertain in the aftermath of the Operation Sindoor – will be hosted by the BCCI in the United Arab Emirates. While a proposal of asking BCCI to host the tournament in India is also likely to be tabled, UAE has emerged as the consensus venue for all the major Boards involved.
&w=3840&q=100)

Business Standard
an hour ago
- Business Standard
Govt to impose restrictions on Indian teams' international play under bill
The central government will have the power to "impose reasonable restrictions" on the international participation of Indian teams and individual athletes under "extraordinary circumstances", as per the National Sports Governance Bill that was tabled in Lok Sabha on Wednesday. Covered in the clause on "Power to issue directions and impose restrictions in national interest," it clarifies a grey area on participation that often crops up with regards to arch foes Pakistan. "The Central Government may, by an order, impose reasonable restrictions on the participation of any national team of a concerned sport in international sports competitions or participation of any individual in the activities of the national sports, under extraordinary circumstances and in the national interest," states the bill, which will become an act only after being passed in both houses of the Parliament followed by President's ascent. The question of allowing an Indian team to compete in an international event mostly comes up when Pakistan is involved. The government policy has been clear for several years -- no bar on participation if it's a multi-lateral event but bilaterals are "out of question." This has been the position since the 2008 Mumbai terror attack in which over 150 people were killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists. "This is an important step to ensure that the government has clear command on such decisions. Whenever national interest is involved, it's the government which faces the questions and it is only fair that it has the final say," a sports ministry source told PTI. The two neighbours' relationship nose-dived further after the Pahalgam terror attack this year in April in which 26 tourists were gunned down leading to a brief military showdown that ended on Pakistan's request for a ceasefire. The two countries have, however, engaged with each other in multilateral events even after Pahalgam as India is a member of the International Olympic Committee, whose charter bars any discrimination based on politics. India has also cleared the decks for Pakistan's entry to the country for international events like hockey's Asia Cup next month and the junior shooting World Cup later this year to remain compliant with the Olympic Charter. Compliance with the Charter is a must to land hosting rights of big events and India is gunning for the 2036 Olympic Games. Other discretionary powers Besides this, the central government will also have the final say on the relaxation of the clauses of the act, including the cap of number of Executive Committee members in national sports bodies, currently capped at 15. The sports ministry has assured that in case the international statutes differ from the provisions of the bill, the former will "take primacy". However, the final call on this will also be in the hands of the government after due consultation with the National Sports Board, which will have powers to recognise or de-recognise national federations. "...the Central Government may, after consulting the Board and the concerned International Sports Body as may be deemed necessary, issue a clarificatory notification in this regard," the bill states.


Time of India
an hour ago
- Time of India
Decks clear up for Asia Cup in UAE in September as BCCI agree to attend ACC Dhaka meeting
Logo of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. Mumbai: In a big development that indicates that the decks have finally been cleared for holding the Asia Cup in UAE in September, TOI has learnt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India ( BCCI ) have agreed to virtually attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on Thursday (on July 24). BCCI vice-president Rajiv Shukla, who is the Indian board's representative in the ACC, will attend the meeting. It had earlier emerged that the BCCI and the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) were involved in a stand-off over the ACC AGM venue, with the BCCI wanting it to be moved out of Dhaka. However, that stand-off has ended now. "The ACC has addressed a few of our concerns, including the election of the ACC vice-president, so we have no issues in attending the meeting now. However, the situation with the Asia Cup will only be clear after this meeting," a top BCCI official told TOI. On Wednesday, PCB & ACC chief Mohsin Naqvi arrived in Dhaka for the AGM, where he was welcomed by Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) president Amin ul Islam. Significantly, the ACC was supposed to conduct its election on Wednesday, but that has been postponed now. "Eight-nine of the ACC members will attend the ACC meeting physically in Dhaka, while the rest of the members will attend it online," a source said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like This Could Be the Best Time to Trade Gold in 5 Years IC Markets Learn More Undo It must be noted that Naqvi had attended the ICC Annual Conference, which was held in Singapore, virtually as well. Due to the recent diplomatic tensions between India and Bangladesh, the BCCI had initially insisted that the venue of the ACC AGM be shifted from Dhaka as a condition for its participation. Its stance was backed by allies like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Nepal. That had brought the legality of the AGM itself under a question, as the presence of at least three permanent (Test playing) members is required to meet the quorum. However, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are expected to attend the meeting online now. For real-time updates, scores, and highlights, follow our live coverage of the India vs England Test match here. Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!