THIS refers to the Indian decision not to issue Pakistani junior hockey team visas for the Junior World Cup being held in Lucknow from Dec 8. The organisers of the event had told Pakistan hockey officials to confirm the arrival date or else they may be omitted from the tournament.

A smart move on part of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) would have been to reserve seats for the team. It could have been Dec 4 or 5 or even earlier. This action would have taken the sting out of this ploy.

Furthermore, this would have squarely put the blame on the Indian government for not issuing visas to the Pakistani team on time.

I have suspicions that it is continuation of the hockey federation’s policy of not spending even a single paisa on the players and the game. The higher authorities are requested to look into this.

They have not paid their players for years. Thanks to this PHF set-up, we are on a fast-paced downward spiral.

Shahid Ehsan Khalid

Lahore

Published in Dawn, December 3rd, 2016