The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has ordered that the country’s sports federations should not ‘commit to participate in any sporting event in India’. The government-run body cited ‘security situation’ as the reason for issuing the directive on Saturday.
According to Dawn, the decision — urging ‘all national federations to strictly adhere to the directive’ — was taken during a PSB meeting on Wednesday and was made public on Saturday. “In view of the current security situation, no national federation shall make any commitment or agreement regarding participation in sports events in India without prior permission from PSB,” the circular said, as per Dawn.
The notification comes days after the Pakistan Hockey Federation informed the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) that it will be ‘difficult’ for them to send a team to India for the Asia Cup next month because of ‘security concerns.’
The eight-team Asia Cup is scheduled to be held in Rajgir, Bihar, from August 27 to September 7.
With Pakistan’s participation uncertain, Bangladesh Hockey Federation’s general secretary Lt Col (retd) Riazul Hasan has claimed that the country has been kept on standby for the continental championship.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Hasan said: “The Asian Hockey Federation sent us a letter on Wednesday, saying that Bangladesh might have an opportunity to participate in the Asia Cup. It also asked whether we want to participate. We replied that we want to play if AHF permits us. We have also requested the AHF to confirm its decision soon so that we can start our preparation. We hope to receive a reply by Monday.”
Bangladesh finished third in the AHF Cup, which was a qualifying event for the Asia Cup. They finished third after losing to eventual champions Oman 5-4 in the semifinals in Jakarta on April 25. The two finalists, Oman and Chinese Taipei, had already earned direct berths for the Asia Cup.
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