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KARACHI: Pakistan’s participation in the Hockey Asia Cup and the FIH Junior World Cup, both to be held in India later this year, remain unconfirmed despite some media reports emanating from India on Thursday suggesting the Greenshirts will not be stopped from participating in both the events.
The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said that the national team’s participation in the Men’s Asia Cup and the FIH Junior Men’s World Cup remained unconfirmed.
Earlier on Thursday, some Indian media outlets reported that Pakistan had been cleared to take part in the Asia Cup (Aug 27 to Sept 7) and the Junior World Cup (Nov 28 to Dec 10).
In exclusive comments to Dawn.com, PSB spokesperson Khurram Shahzad said that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) issued a request about whether or not the national team can travel to India to play in the Asia Cup, amid spiking tensions between the two nuclear-armed neighbouring countries.
“On June 19, the PSB sent this request to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, which forwarded it to the Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for a final decision,” Khurram to Dawn.com. “However, no decision has been taken on this yet.”
Khurram noted in his comments that the Asia Cup was a qualifying event for the World Cup.
According to The Times of India, the Indian interior and foreign ministries have cleared Pakistan’s participation in both the tournaments, with the visa process underway.
The outlet reported that the choice to allow Pakistan to take part was “part of the Indian government’s efforts to keep politics and sports aside”, in keeping with the Olympic Charter.
However, The Times of India noted that if Pakistan had been disallowed from the tournament, India would face sanctions from the International Olympic Committee. Additionally, it reported that the decision meant that Pakistan athletes in other sports would be able to compete in India.
India refused to travel to Pakistan for the Champions Trophy this year and played all their matches, including the March 9 final, in Dubai.
Earlier on Thursday, a source in the Indian sports ministry said that Pakistan’s hockey teams will not be stopped from competing in the Asia Cup and the Junior World Cup noting any move to block the arch-rivals from multi-lateral competitions in India would be a violation of the Olympic Charter.
“We are not against any team competing in India in a multi-national competition. But bilateral is different, and there will be no relaxation on that front,” the source said. “International sports demands that we cannot back out from competing. Russia and Ukraine are at war but they show up at multi-national events,” the source said, according to a report by the Press Trust of India.
“If we try to stop Pakistan it would be seen as a violation of the Olympic Charter. Likewise, we will also show up for any multi-national event that features Pakistan,” the source added.
Political tensions between the two nations over the years have cast a shadow over bilateral sporting events.
Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2025
