The tournament is scheduled to begin from November 28 and will be held till December 28 in Chennai and Madurai. FIH will soon announce Pakistan's replacement for the marquee event
Representational Image (Pic: File Pic)
Ahead of the Junior Hockey World Cup, which is scheduled to be played in India in November-December, Pakistan has decided to pull out of the event, confirmed the International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Friday.
The tournament will be held from November 28 to December 28 in Chennai and Madurai. FIH will soon announce Pakistan's replacement for the marquee event.
"We can confirm that the Pakistan Hockey Federation has notified the International Hockey Federation (FIH) that its team initially qualified for the upcoming FIH Hockey Men's Junior World Cup Tamil Nadu 2025 won't participate eventually," FIH said in a statement released to PTI.
"The team replacing Pakistan for this event will be announced soon," the statement added.
Pakistan was placed in Group B of the tournament along with India, Chile, and Switzerland. It remains to be seen which team is picked as Pakistan's replacement.
This also marked the second event in India from which Pakistan has pulled out. Earlier, the side had withdrawn from the men's Asia Cup tournament in Rajgir, Bihar, which was held from August 29 to September 7. India had won the tournament.
The sporting ties between India and Pakistan have deteriorated since the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack and India's subsequent retaliatory military action in Operation Sindoor.
The Indian government recently announced a new policy under which it will not engage in bilateral sporting contests with Pakistan but will continue to compete against them in multi-nation tournaments.
During the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025 tournament, Indian cricket skipper Suryakumar Yadav and his men refused to shake hands with their Pakistan counterparts. Following the 'no handshake' row, the "Men in Blue" also refused to accept the showpiece from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) chief, Mohsin Naqvi, who also is the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman.
Naqvi refused to hand over the trophy to Team India and was seen leaving the ground along with the showpiece. Currently, the Indian team is busy engaging in the three-match ODI series against Australia. After the conclusion of the series, both teams will lock horns against each other for the five-match T20I contest.
(With PTI Inputs)
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