The Pakistan Hockey Federation has sought the intervention of Asian Hockey Federation after its team was ignored for the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup, to be held from April 26 in Malaysia, reported PTI.
“We are very disappointed at the way the Azlan Shah Cup organisers have dropped us from the tournament and included England in our place,” PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmad said. Without elaborating on the reasons for the Pakistan team being dropped from the high-profile tournament, Ahmed said that Pakistan had played a big role in promotion and development of hockey in Malaysia.
“We have written to the AHF to intervene and do something because it is disappointing to be in this position. We had already made a lot of preparations to send the team to Malaysia. It was important for us since the World Cup qualifiers are also due to take place in June in London,” he said.
Pakistan has been regularly taking part in the Azlan Shah Cup since 1983, having won it thrice but withdrew from the competition in 2014 due to lack of funds.
Last year, Pakistan finished a lowly fifth. Ahmed said that the PHF would now try to arrange test matches for the team in Germany, Belgium, Argentina and Spain to prepare for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
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