Pakistan’s participation in FIH Nations Cup in doldrums

LAHORE: Pakistani hockey team’s participation in the FIH Nations Cup is in the doldrums as the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) is yet to release funds for the international event.

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has not received any response from the PSB despite approaching the latter thrice for funds, revealed well-placed sources.

The Pakistan team is supposed to leave on November 22 for South Africa, ahead of the FIH Nations Cup, but it still doesn’t have money for tickets and accommodation.

If Pakistani team doesn’t participate in the event, the FIH could take severe action against the PHF since the latter has already communicated that they will feature in the tournament.

It must be noted that PHF Secretary Haider Hussain also highlighted the importance of Pakistan’s participation in the upcoming FIH Nations Cup after the Green Shirts won a bronze medal in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup 2022.

“Participation in FIH Nations Cup is very important for us. Winning the event will help us qualify for the Olympics, where we haven’t played for the past eight years,” said Hussain.

“We don’t have funds for our trip to South Africa, which is why I want to request the prime minister [Shehbaz Sharif] to help us in this regard,” he maintained. “Not participating in the FIH Nations Cup will also affect the team’s ranking.”

The FIH Nations Cup offers top-level competition to the best-ranked teams not participating in the FIH Hockey Pro League and gives the winning team the option to be promoted to the FIH Hockey Pro League next season. 

Therefore, the FIH Hockey Nations Cup marks the start of the promotion-relegation principle for the FIH Hockey Pro League, with the winning team of the first FIH Hockey Nations Cup having the chance to be promoted to the 2023-24 FIH Hockey Pro League.

The FIH Pro League champions in 2023-24 and 2024-25 will earn direct qualification to their respective 2026 Hockey World Cups. The winners in 2025-26 and 2026-27 will then qualify for the 2028 Olympics.

The FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup will take place at the North-West University of Potchefstroom, South Africa, from November 28 to December 4, 2022.

Pakistan are placed in Pool A alongside France, Ireland and hosts South Africa. Meanwhile, Canada, Japan, Korea and Malaysia are part of Pool B.

The top two teams from each pool will qualify for the semi-finals of the event.