Pakistan’s visit to India for Asian Champions Trophy subject to government clearance, says PHF chief Wani

Pakistan’s proposed tour to India for next month’s Asian Champions Trophy hockey tournament is subject to government clearance, the president of the country’s hockey federation Mohyuddin Ahmed Wani said on Monday, after Indian Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann claimed that Pakistan would participate in the event.

Wani, who is also federal secretary of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination, told Dawn that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) would abide by the government’s decision on the national team’s participation.

“The visit of the Pakistan team will depend on government clearance. We will do whatever the government asks us to do,” Wani said, adding that Mann’s statement had no bearing on the PHF’s position.

Mann, according to a Press Trust of India (PTI) report, said Pakistan would be among the six teams competing in the Asian Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held from Oct 27 to Nov 5.

“There is no problem in multi-national tournaments. Maybe individual series [between India and Pakistan] cannot take place,” Mann said at an event in Mohali when asked about Pakistan’s participation and whether the requisite clearances had been obtained.

The tournament is scheduled to feature hosts India, Pakistan, China, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea.

The league matches will be played in Jalandhar, while the semi-finals and final are scheduled to be held in Mohali.

India’s sports policy bars bilateral sporting engagements with Pakistan amid tensions between the two countries, but the Sports Ministry has maintained that the two sides can compete against each other in multi-lateral events in line with the Olympic Charter.

Pakistan, however, withdrew from last year’s Junior World Cup in Tamil Nadu, citing heightened tensions between the two countries in May last year.

Mann said the proposed India-Pakistan match on Nov 1 in Jalandhar would be one of the major attractions of the tournament and would coincide with Punjab Day.

“India and Pakistan may have their rivalries on the hockey field, but sport has its own language,” PTI quoted Mann as saying.

Hockey India secretary general Bhola Nath Singh, who was also present at Monday’s event, described relations between the hockey federations of the two countries as “excellent”.

The Asian Champions Trophy is being organised under the aegis of the Asian Hockey Federation.

It was not held last year, while India are the defending champions after winning the 2023 edition in Chennai — in which Pakistan participated — and the 2024 tournament in Hulunbuir, China.

The tournament will open in Jalandhar on Oct 27, with the final scheduled to be played in Mohali on Nov 5.