As the Asia Cup hockey competition gets underway in India on Friday, Pakistan will miss the event for the first time in its history due to security concerns.
Three months after India and Pakistan returned from a devastating war on their shared border, an eight-nation tournament is being held in Rajgir, a city in India’s northeastern state of Bihar.
Bangladesh will take over in Group B of the upcoming tournament from the three-time former champions and one of the founding members of the Asian Hockey Federation (AHF).
Last week, Hockey India’s (HI) President Dilip Kumar Tirkey confirmed Pakistan’s withdrawal from the competition by citing security concerns of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in India.
Due to security concerns, Pakistan will not participate in this tournament, Tirkey told Indian news agency ANI.
Tirkey claimed that Pakistan had never rejected the invitation and that they had withdrawn of their own accord.
Reports in Pakistani media claimed that the PHF had informed HI and the AHF of their decision earlier in August, while their omission was confirmed by the tournament’s schedule announcement last week.
Before a ceasefire was reached, India and Pakistan were at odds with one another for the first four days of the conflict in May. There are conflicting accounts about the casualties, but more than 70 have been killed by missile, drone, and artillery fire on both sides.
Numerous Indian media reports that the nation’s sport organizations would avoid joining Pakistan in international competitions in the wake of the escalations. In the ICC Women’s ODI World Cup, both nations were given the same group, but Pakistan played at a neutral venue.
The ICC brokered a mutual agreement that would “host” its neighbor at a neutral venue for all upcoming global cricket tournaments, which was supported by the decision.
However, no hockey tournament officials have ever negotiated any of these agreements.
Pakistan’s double jeopardy
By not participating in the Asia Cup, Pakistan, which last won the tournament in 1989, will lose out on a chance to advance to the FIH Hockey World Cup 2026.
The qualifiers will feature the Asia Cup champions, who will also be guaranteed a spot in the 2026 World Cup. Second- and sixth-placed teams will also be included. Pakistan currently ranks 15th in the men’s FIH World Hockey rankings, with bleak prospects for World Cup qualification.
In the meantime, India will relish the chance to claim their first continental title at home and advance to the World Cup, which Belgium and the Netherlands will host together in August 2026.
South Korea, the reigning champion, will also be favored and aim for a sixth Asian title that will extend beyond the mark. Other participating countries include China, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Japan, China, and Chinese Taipei.
shared hockey glory
Both India and Pakistan have a national hockey team, and both of these countries have a history of playing the sport up until the early 1990s.
The partition of India in 1947, which led to the emergence of Pakistan and a decades-long, largely political conflict, impacted sport.
The then-Indian team, which included athletes from both sides of the now-divided border, had until then, and they had won gold at the 1928, 1932, and 1936 Olympic Games.
India and Pakistan have combined to win 11 gold medals at the Olympics, five world titles, three FIH Champions Trophy victories, and dozens of hockey legends.
Source: Aljazeera
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