Former hockey Olympians Hasan Sardar, Tauqir Dar and Imran Butt have lamented the shock omission of the Pakistan team from this season's Azlan Shah Cup Hockey Tournament, scheduled to start in Ipoh, Malaysia from Nov 22.
It was reported in the media on Wednesday that Pakistan has been excluded from the 2025 edition of the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Cup, despite finishing as runners-up in the previous edition.
The exclusion was also confirmed on the official website for the tournament which did not include Pakistan among the participating teams.
"I amazed at this development since Pakistan and Malaysia enjoy very cordial relations and our team has always participated and done exceedingly well in the Azlan Shah Cup," said former captain Hasan Sardar, one of the game's all-time greats who won the gold medal for Pakistan in 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, while speaking to Telecom Asia Sport.
"I am sure it is due to the incompetence and lack of coordination on the part of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), otherwise there is no reason that Pakistan does not get invited to Azlan Shah Cup.
"The reason given for the snub which says PHF owes a debt to Malaysian Federation is rather ambiguous and we donot know much details on that, but I am sure the PHF has messed up things to face this ouster," said Hasan, who was the Man of the Tournament in the 1982 Hockey World Cup in Mumbai for scoring 11 goals.
Ex-Olympian Tauqir Dar also expressed surprise at the development. "It is not good for the Pakistan's hockey as well as for the tournament itself, as our country has almost been a regular participant in the Azlan Shah Cup and last year it also ended up as runner-up after losing the final to Japan," said Dar, a member of the Pakistan team which won the Olympic gold in Los Angeles in 1984 under the captaincy of late forward player Manzoor Junior.
"It would have been great if Pakistan was there because fans all over the world await the Pak-India clash in all the sports and it was likely that our team would have met India in the tournament which would have been a prime attraction for the fans," he added.
Dar suggested the PHF to make a contact with the FIH and the Asian Hockey Federation as well to plead their case to include their team as it would be a great opportunity for the Pakistani players to hone their skills by playing against the top ranked teams of the world.
"This was an ideal chance for the Pakistan team to play the world's top ranked teams and I will suggest that PHF should still try to get entry in the Azlan Cup," Dar concluded.
Former Pakistan goalkeeper Imran Butt, while commenting on Pakistan's omission from Azlan Shah Cup, said the PHF must come out with a solid explanation for this development and should clarify whether Pakistan received an invitation for the tournament in the first place or not.
"If the move to leave out Pakistan from the tournament has been initiated by the Malaysian Hockey Federation, then the PHF should strongly take up this issue with the FIH as well as with the Asian Hockey Federation which is being currently headed by our own Tayyab Ikram Sahab," said Imran who represented the country in 156 international matches including three World Cups and London Olympics 2012.
"Pakistan players would have got tremendous exposure in the Azlan Cup because some of the top teams in the world are competing there including Germany, Belgium, India and others. It is a great setback that our team has been snubbed like this," said Imran who was part of Pakistan team which earned silver medal at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.
Meanwhile, PHF secretary Rana Mujahid in a press conference held on Wednesday totally rejected the issues of any dues of MHF being pending with his federation.
"The Malaysian Hockey Federation has never lodged any complaint to the PHF about any dues. We have very friendly relations with the MHF," secretary PHF said.
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