The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) said it has requested the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to allow the Junior Hockey World Cup matches to be played at a neutral venue after reports emerged that Pakistan would not send its team to India for the tournament. Meanwhile, Hockey India (HI) said it was not aware of it the withdrawal of the Pakistani team from the tournament.
Pakistan and India will team up for the tournament in Chennai and Madurai later this yearbut due to the strained ties between the two countries, the PHF decided not to send a team to the tournament. It will be the second tournament in India that Pakistan will be knocked out of this year, having missed out on the 2025 Asia Cup in Rajgir.
HI General Secretary Bholanth Singh said that he had recently spoken to the PHF officials and they had confirmed their participation in the World Junior Championship.
“We have no information from the FIH that Pakistan has withdrawn. I spoke to Pakistan Hockey Federation officials a month and a half ago and they have confirmed their participation,” HI general secretary Bholanth Singh told PTI.
“What happened after that, I don’t know. Our duty is to put on the best tournament as hosts and hope India wins the title. Now it is up to the FIH to announce a replacement for Pakistan.”
You want to play in the World Cup
PHF General Secretary Rana Mujahid said that they have requested the FIH to give them a neutral venue to participate as skipping the tournaments in India is hurting their players’ development.
“At the same time, we have urged the FIH to provide a neutral venue to allow us to participate and play our matches in the Junior World Cup because missing the big events because they are held in India is hurting our hockey and not helping the development of our players,” the Lahore Olympian said.
“We told the FIH how they expect us to go to play in India when their athletes are not even willing to shake hands in different sports or at neutral venues. The FIH says that all the events were awarded to India long before the conflict, so no one anticipated such a situation,” Rana added.
The FIH is looking for a replacement for Pakistan ahead of the tournament.
– The end
Published on:
October 24, 2025
