New Delhi: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has told the world body, FIH, that it will be “difficult” for them to send a team to India for the upcoming Asia Cup due to “security concerns”.
PHF chief Tariq Bugti said that the federation had written a letter to the FIH and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), expressing their concerns about sending the team to India.
“We have informed them that in the existing scenario, our team will face security risks playing in India,” he said.
“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.
Tariq said that the ball is now in the court of the FIH and AHF to decide about staging 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.
No official statement from Pakistani government yet
The Pakistan government has yet to give an official statement on the issue, but recently, a senior government official admitted that the team would not travel to India.
Earlier, there were reports that the Pakistani government would decide on their national hockey team’s participation in the upcoming Asia Cup after reviewing the security situation in the neighbouring country.
Doubts also remain on Pakistan’s participation in the Junior World Cup in India later this year.
According to Pakistani officials, after the Operation Sindoor in May, when the Indian military carried out drone and missile strikes in Pakistan as retaliation for the horrific Pehalgam attack in April, the situation is not safe for Pakistani nationals to travel to India.
The Asia Cup 2025 will be held in Rajgir, Bihar, from 27 August to 7 September 2025, while the Junior WC is scheduled to be staged in Chennai and Madurai from 28 November to 10 December 2025.