LAHORE, Nov 22: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Monday admitted that hosts have lost home ground advantage because of delay in laying of new surface at the venue ahead of Champions Trophy which starts on Dec 4.

"I admit laying of new surface has been completed after a delay owing to which Pakistan team has lost the advantage of home ground, but some things are beyond our control," PHF secretary Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan said.

He said work could not be completed on time as Australian firm had refused to send their experts to lay the poly grass since no insurance company was ready to give life insurance cover to them.

"Some 20 to 22 days were wasted and finally we have to ask our local experts to lay the turf manually," he said. He admitted that training of 10 or 12 days at new surface would not be enough, but Pakistani players were experienced and hopefully they would soon adjust themselves.

The secretary criticised former Olympian Hanif Khan's statement that Pakistan team had no chance to win Champions Trophy. He said Hanif coached the national team for 18 months apart from Shahnaz Sheikh, Islahuddin Siddiqi and Rashid Junior and Khawaja Junaid.

"I will hold these persons responsible for this situation. They should accept their defeats and furthermore it is not the right time to issue such statements," the secretary said. The secretary said the venue would be ready by Nov 25 instead of Nov 20.

"The dates about the finishing work have been changed many times but now hopefully the work will finish on Nov 25," he said. Meanwhile, the team will have first training session on Tuesday at the new poly grass laid at the National Hockey Stadium (NHS).

Asked if PHF had considered the problems the foggy weather could create while preparing the schedule of the matches, he said maximum efforts were made to set the timings of the matches to avoid fog. He said 15 former players and key organisers of the game had been selected who would be honoured and would receive cash prizes during Champions Trophy.