Date:14/09/2007 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2007/09/14/stories/2007091455322100.htm

Sport - Hockey

Champions Trophy moved out of Pakistan

Hockey Correspondent

Chennai: It’s now official. The Champions Trophy, the premier hockey competition of the International Hockey Federation, has been moved out of Pakistan.

Scheduled to be held from December 1 to 9 at Lahore, the Champions Trophy became a subject of controversy with at least two teams, Australia and South Korea, reluctant to travel to Pakistan because of security concerns.

While expressing regret at being compelled to take such a decision, Els van Breda Vriesmann, President, International Hockey Federation, said that the new venue will be announced in a day or two. The dates, according to her, will remain unchanged.

Hard decision

In a statement, Ms. Vriesmann said: “It was an extremely hard decision and one that we took with many regrets for the Pakistan hockey community. During the last few months, we tried everything we could to keep the Samsung Champions Trophy in Pakistan. This was, unfortunately, impossible due to circumstances not related to hockey and completely beyond the control of the FIH and the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

Two of the qualified teams (Australia and Spain) informed the FIH that they would not be able to participate, while Germany, Korea and Netherlands were unable to confirm their entries.

Furthermore, the FIH Athletes Commission was advised by a number of athletes that they would not play in the tournament.

With six of the best eight teams not participating in the Champions Trophy, the FIH had no option but to move the event.”