The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has been told to secure government clearance before confirming participation in the FIH Junior World Cup scheduled to be held in India at the end of next year.
PHF Secretary-General Rana Mujahid said the team would require a No Objection Certificate from the federal government for the national squad to travel for the FIH event to be held in December of 2025.
"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. But now we have been informed to first get clearance before finalising the team and confirming participation," he told the media in Karachi.
The Pakistan junior team was unable to take part in the junior World Cup held in Lucknow in December 2016 after the players were not issued visas because of late submission of applications.
Pakistan qualified for the 2025 Junior Hockey World Cup event after finishing runners-up to India in the Asia Cup held in Oman recently. They had lost the continental final to India 3-5.
"The Junior World Cup is important for us as we intend to build a strong senior squad which can qualify for the next World Cup and Olympics, something we have not done for the last two editions of the Summer Games," Mujahid said.
According to the PHF secretary, the national senior hockey championship would be held in Karachi from December 27 to January 8.
He also spoke about the financial woes of the PHF but said the situation had improved and the federation had recently cleared outstanding daily allowances and other dues of senior and junior team players and officials.
"The government is supporting us and we are hopeful the Sindh government will also release our annual grant soon."
