New Delhi: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) will need to seek formal approval from their federal government before confirming the participation of its men’s junior hockey team for the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup 2025, which is scheduled to take place in India in December 2025.
PH secretary general Rana Mujahid confirmed that the national body would be required to take a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from its government for the biennial event, though the city in India is yet to be confirmed with Chennai being considered to host the event.
“Normally we have always been permitted by our government to play in major events in India in recent years despite the strained relations between the two countries,” Mujahid told Pakistan media in Lahore, as quoted by news agency PTI.
“But now we have been informed to first get clearance before finalising the team and confirming participation,” the PHF secretary general added.
This development comes after the International Cricket Council (ICC) recently announced to host India and Pakistan matches in hybrid model whenever each of the country is staged to host ICC events between the cycle of 2025 and 2027.
Why Pakistan junior team is in must need to participate in World Cup 2025?
Incidentally, the Pakistan junior hockey team didn’t participate in the 2016 edition of the men’s junior World Cup, which was hosted in Lucknow eight years ago. It was because of late submission of applications then which costed their players to miss on issuing of visas.
However, this time the Pakistan junior team will be one of the contenders for the title after securing qualification as the runners-up of the men’s junior hockey asia cup 2024 in Muscat, Oman, earlier this month. Pakistan lost to rivals India junior team after losing the match by a margin of 5-3 in the final.
The Pakistan national hockey body wants to bank on this junior team to form a core squad which will help them break the ceiling of making through to the Olympics, which they haven’t done for the past two editions in Tokyo and Paris. But it won’t be possible if the junior team cannot participate at the World Cup in India next year, as observed by Mujahid.
The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) will need to seek formal approval from their federal government before confirming the participation of its men’s junior hockey team for the FIH Men’s Junior World Cup 2025, which is scheduled to take place in India in December 2025. Other Sports Sports News: Latest Cricket News, Cricket Live Score, Sports Breaking News from Sports Today
