12 October 2004	Tuesday	26 Shaban 1425

LAHORE, Oct 11: Olympic champions Australia, citing security fears, have decided not to compete in the Champions Trophy hockey slated to be played in Pakistan in December this year.

"Australians have conveyed us that they will not be coming and have cited the baseless security fears, which is not only disappointing but disturbing for us," Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Brig (Retd) Musarratullah Khan said on Monday.

The six-nation annual event is scheduled to be held from December 4-12 at the National Hockey Stadium here. The PHF official, however, said that the other four teams Holland, Spain, Germany and New Zealand have confirmed their participation.

"I don't know what security assurances they needed from us. After Pakistan was cleared by an International Hockey Federation (FIH) security team, we expected the Australians would come," he added.

Pakistan was to originally host the event in 2001 but security fears in the wake of Sept 2001 terrorists attacks in the United States forced the FIH to relocate the tournament to Holland. Pakistan, however, was awarded the 2004 event for missing out the 2001 edition.

The Australian decisions, however was welcome news for Pakistan's arch rivals and neighbours India who will replace the Olympic champions after finishing seventh in Athens. Champions Trophy is regarded the toughest event of hockey and it was pioneered by Pakistan way back in 1980s. -Agencies