KARACHI, Jan 12 The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) suffered yet another blow on Monday when Malaysian Hockey Federation (MHF) turned down its invitation to play a series in Pakistan.

This was announced by PHF spokesman on Monday after the federation received an official word from Malaysia which said that the MHF only refused the tour due to their internal problems.

The spokesman said “MHF officials informed that they are yet to appoint a foreign coach for their team, which does not have the proper training for the proposed tournament.”

When Dawn contacted PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa to inquire what kind of training was the Malaysian team seeking in order to face the eight-ranked team of the world, the former Olympian said “Well, they are looking to hire this new coach, from Australia most probably, who is yet to join the team. See hiring a new coach involves so many things such as getting an okay from their sports council who may be looking for a provision for the coach in their budget, etc. Plus without a coach there is no selection, no camp, no training and therefore no tournament,” he explained.

“I spoke to the MHF officials earlier today and they were most apologetic while registering their regrets over not being able to come here,” said Bajwa while trying to dispel the notion that Malaysia had any security issues.

When asked if they would be coming here after sorting out their problems and finding a suitable coach, Bajwa said “But we won't have time later for playing a home series before the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, which commences in the first week of April. February was our free slot before that.”

Bajwa also said that they intended requesting China, Korea or Japan to invite Pakistan over for a series. When asked if asking to be invited was a new PHF strategy to avoid being snubbed again by any other foreign team that refuses to come here, the former fullback said “Well, what can I say? We are very concerned about the current situation. It is unfortunate that teams have to think twice before coming to play here but Malaysia had their own problems.

“And as for seeking invitation from the other three, it would suit us to include another tour in our Azlan Shah Cup schedule. We can fit in a tour of any of these Asian countries before or after Azlan Shah to enable us to get more practice before the Asia Cup to be held in Dubai in May.”

The proposed four-Test match series with Malaysia was tentatively planned for the second week of February, to be played at four centres namely, Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Sialkot.