Hockey India announced on Monday in a statement that they had decided not to play any bilateral series against Pakistan until they received a written apology from the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
In their statement, RP Singh, a spokesperson for Hockey India and the athlete representative on the executive board, said that the Pakistan Hockey Federation failed to adhere to the deadlines to submit their visa for the Junior Hockey World Cup held in India in December 2016 and hence, HI could not be blamed for the consequent rejection of invitation by the International Hockey Federation.
“It is a shame that Pakistan Hockey Federation has again raised the issue of the misbehavior of the Pakistan Hockey team during the FIH Champions Trophy in 2014 as an excuse and opportunity to blame Hockey India for their own incompetence that resulted in the Pakistan team not participating in the Hockey Junior World Cup 2016,” said Singh.
He added, “In light of this and the perpetual lies told by Pakistan Hockey Federation to blame others for their own inefficiencies, Hockey India has again taken the decision to not play any bi-lateral series against Pakistan unless they submit an unconditional regret in writing for the lewd and unprofessional behavior of the Pakistan team during the FIH Champions Trophy 2014 and their habit of telling perpetual lies to media regarding Hockey India.”
The move came after Pakistan Hockey Federations Secretary, Shahbaz Ahmed accused India for their ouster from the Junior World Cup which Pakistan termed as “pre-planned”. The International Hockey Federation barred Pakistan from taking part in the Junior Hockey World Cup which was held in December 2016 as the Pakistani players had not submitted travel documents before the official deadline.
“Pakistan did not delay any schedule obligation and it is all India’s fault to not issue visa to Pakistan’s delegation before deadline. We had planned training camps for our players so how can we delay any schedule to jeopardise our participation. I had already seen it coming that this decision by FIH is going to go against Pakistan,” Ahmed had said in November.
In January, Ahmed had alleged that the reason Pakistan were not given visas by the Indian High Commission for the Junior Hockey World Cup was because India had not received an apology for the behaviour of Pakistani players in the Champions Trophy in 2014.
After Pakistan defeated India in their match in the same tournament in Bhubaneswar, some players of the winning team celebrated by taking off their shirts and taunting the home crowd, an incident which led to an exacerbation of tensions between the two rivals.