Pakistan hockey body unwilling to send team to India for Asia Cup

Tariq Bugti, who heads the PHF, said they had written to the FIH and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), expressing their reservations over sending the team to India.

Pakistan hockey team
Pakistan hockey team
Press Trust of India Karachi
2 min read Last Updated : Jul 21 2025 | 11:54 AM IST

The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has informed the sport's global governing body FIH that it will be "difficult" for them to send a team to India for the Asia Cup next month because of "security concerns".

Tariq Bugti, who heads the PHF, said they had written to the FIH and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF), expressing their reservations over sending the team to India.

"We have informed them that in the existing scenario, our team will face security risks playing in India," he said.

ALSO READ: Asia Cup uncertainty may hit Pakistan Cricket Board's revenue hard

"We have informed them our players are also not keen to travel to India for the Asia Cup which is also a direct qualifying tournament," he added.

The PHF chief said the ball is now in the court of the FIH and AHF to decide about the event and Pakistan's matches.

"We have asked them to let us know what guarantee is there that our players will be safe in India and will be able to focus on the tournament," he said.

The Pakistan government is yet to come out with an official statement on the issue but recently a senior government official said the team would not travel to India.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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Topics :Indian Hockey TeamIndia vs Pakistansports

First Published: Jul 21 2025 | 11:54 AM IST

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