LAUSANNE: The FIH on Wednesday suspended Pakistan from participating in the inaugural 2019 Pro Hockey League after the debt-ridden federation informed the world body that it intends to withdraw from the first three matches of the tournament.
“Pakistan will not take part in the 2019 FIH Pro League,” said FIH in a statement.
“The Pakistan Hockey Association informed FIH today (Wednesday) that they were no longer able to play their first three games planned against Argentina, Australia and New Zealand, citing inevitable circumstances (read no money),” the statement adds.
Therefore, according to the statement, the FIH has taken the decision to suspend the Asian team from the 2019 Pro League in order not to jeopardize the regularity and the smooth delivery of the event.
FIH CEO Thierry Weil said expressed his regret over Pakistan’s decision to withdraw from first three games.
“It is regretful that Pakistan has decided only now to withdraw from the first games of the FIH Pro League. Consequently, FIH were left with no other option than suspending Pakistan from the rest of the competition’s season,” he said.
“At this stage, I would like to thank all participating National Associations who had adapted their schedules to support a solution for Pakistan to join the competition this year,” Weil stated.
Pakistan hockey has been facing financial problems for some time now which has affected its team’s participation in major tournaments.
Pakistan was on the verge of pulling out of the recent World Cup in Bhubaneswar before the Javed Afridi, owner of Pakistan Super League franchise Peshawar Zalmi, decided to sponsor the hockey team for the mega event.
The FIH made clear that the non-participation of Pakistan will have no impact on the competition format. The eight men’s teams of the FIH Pro League will play each other on a home and away basis from January to June, the world body said.
The tournament resumes on Friday with the men’s game between Spain and Great Britain.
The FIH Pro League is a brand-new competition and part of FIH’s new event portfolio. It is a global home and away league involving many of the world’s leading hockey nations, men and women, for a six-month period.
India is also not a part of the tournament due to problems of its own making. When FIH announced the launch of the nine-team (now eight teams on the men’s side), home-and-away Pro League, which included both the men’s and women’s teams from India, Hockey India withdrew from the event, citing apprehensions that the women’s team might not finish in the top four and might miss out on Olympic qualification.
As it turns out, HI’s bone-headed decision has only complicated the qualification prospects of the women’s team.
As ESPN reports, the trouble for India will be that the nine countries in the Pro League — Argentina, Australia, Belgium (stepping in for India), China, England, Germany, Netherlands, New Zealand and USA — will all earn ranking points for every match played during the Pro League, where they are guaranteed a minimum of 16 games each.
