The International Hockey Federation (FIH) said on Friday that Pakistan will not be participating in the Junior Hockey World Cup 2025, which will take place in Chennai and Madurai from November 28 to December 28. Soon, there will be an announcement about a new team for Pakistan.
Pakistan was included in a group with India, Chile, and Switzerland. Pakistan pulled out just a few months after the Asia Cup, which took place in Rajgir, India, from August 29 to September 7. Bangladesh took their place in that event.
After the Pahalgam terror assault on April 22 that killed 26 civilians, tensions between the two countries have been rising. In response, India started Operation Sindoor, and Pakistan fired shells across the border.
“We Don’t Know Anything,” Hockey India says
Hockey India (HI) said in response to the reports that it has not received any official notice on Pakistan’s withdrawal.
Bholanth Singh, the secretary general of HI, told PTI,
“We haven’t heard anything from FIH that Pakistan has pulled out. A month and a half ago, I talked to people from the Pakistan Hockey Federation, and they said they would take part.
He went on to say,
“I don’t know what happened after that. As hosts, it’s our job to run the greatest tournament we can and hope India wins. FIH is now responsible for finding a successor for Pakistan.
Pakistan says there are tensions and asks for a neutral place.
At the same time, Rana Mujahid, the head of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), indicated that events during the Cricket Asia Cup had a role in the decision. He said that Indian players had declined to shake hands with Pakistani players during all three of their games.
Mujahid stated this in Lahore:
“We have asked the FIH to set up a neutral place for us to play our games in the Junior World Cup. Not being able to play in big events in India is bad for our hockey and not good for our players’ growth.”
He went on to say,
“We told the FIH, how do they expect us to go play in India when their athletes won’t even shake hands with each other in different sports, even at neutral sites?” FIH argues that India was given all the events long before the violence, thus no one saw this coming.