NEW DELHI, 7 September 2004 — India will not hesitate to accept an invitation to the elite six-nation Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in Pakistan if Australia or New Zealand pull out, officials said yesterday. Both Australia, the new Olympic champions, and New Zealand, who finished sixth at Athens, have expressed reservations about making the trip to Lahore for the Dec. 4-12 event due to security concerns.
India, who were seventh at the Olympics, will be the first-choice replacements and Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) officials said they were watching developments closely. “It is an honor to play in the Champions Trophy and we will surely consider the invitation positively if it comes to us,” an IHF official said. “We have no problem about going to Pakistan.”
Hockey Australia chief executive Lyndon Adamson said last week he had asked Champions Trophy organizers for details of their security plans after some team members expressed reservations about touring Pakistan. The Australian government recently renewed its warning to nationals to avoid all non-essential travel to Pakistan for security reasons.
New Zealand Hockey Federation chief executive Ramesh Patel admitted he was consulting his Australian counterpart and the world governing body about the tournament, but said an immediate decision was unlikely. “We want to go through that process first and make sure we aren’t doing anything irresponsible,” Patel said.
Pakistan has brushed aside security fears and assured “fool-proof” security to the participating teams. “There are no security problems in Pakistan and, through the International Hockey Federation, we have assured a foolproof security arrangement for all the foreign teams,” Pakistan Hockey Federation secretary Brig. Musaratullah Khan said.
Australia and New Zealand are billed to take on world champions Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and hosts Pakistan in the annual tournament. India are due to host the 2006 event.
