NEW DELHI, Oct 24: An international hockey event set for New Delhi in Dec has been moved out of India because of security concerns, an Indian hockey official said Wednesday.

He said the inaugural Champions Challenge event for men and women planned from Dec 7-15 was being moved by the world governing body, FIH, because many teams were unwilling to travel.

“The majority of the teams were hesitant to come to India because of the current situation in the region,” Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) secretary K.Jothikumaran told Reuters.

The tournament is the latest sports event in India to be affected because of security fears following last month’s attacks in the United States and the ongoing strikes in Afghanistan.

England’s cricketers are debating whether to go ahead with a Test tour of India starting next month.

The Champions Challenge is a six-nation event and the winner in either section will qualify for the elite Champions trophy tournament.

The FIH officials decided on the move after a meeting with the Indian federation chief K.P.S. Gill during the recent men’s junior world cup in Hobart, Jothikumaran said.

The FIH is trying to organise the event on the same dates and is exploring the possibility of holding the men’s and women’s competitions in different countries.

Malaysia, Canada, Argentina, Spain, Poland and India besides South Africa and Japan, as invitees, were to have competed in the men’s section in New Delhi.

England, Germany, Korea, South Africa, United States and India were the teams expected for the women’s competition.

An Indian official said efforts were being made to hold the tournament in southeast Asia with Singapore and Macau among the venues under consideration.

The first Afro-Asian Games, which was due to take place in New Delhi next month, has been put off indefinitely while the ATP world doubles tournament in Bangalore, also planned for next month, has been cancelled.—Reuters