KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 14: The Malaysian Hockey Confederation said on Friday that it wanted to host the Champions Trophy after the International Hockey Federation decided to move the event away from troubled Pakistan.

“We have sent the bidding documents. Six of the world’s best teams will participate in the tournament,” confederation secretary S.S. Cheema told AFP.

“As host, Malaysia will automatically qualify for the tournament,” he added.

Cheema said Malaysia had the infrastructure and organisational capability to host the Champions Trophy.

It would also allow the national team, which won their first bronze medal in the Asia Cup in Chennai recently, to prepare for the Beijing Olympic qualifier next February, he said.

Besides Malaysia, India and Spain are also keen to host the tournament.

Germany, the Netherlands, Australia, Pakistan, Spain and South Korea are qualified to play in the event.

But Olympic champions Australia, Spain and South Korea had pulled out of the competition, which was due to be held in Lahore from December 1, citing instability in Pakistan.

An upsurge in suicide bombings since the Pakistani government’s raid on a radical mosque in the capital Islamabad in July has left nearly 250 people dead in the country.

There has also been political violence and mass civil unrest in the wake of President Pervez Musharraf’s botched attempt in March to sack the country’s chief justice.—AFP