India – adding insult to their own sporting injuries

India's financial clout in the industry allows it to hold sway over sport governing bodies and FIH is no different.

Hassan Sardar December 07, 2016
Remember the time when the green sticks were a force to be reckoned with? Sweeping all away; left, right and centre. Even then, we found pleasure in knocking down our big bully of a neighbour, especially in their own backyard. Out of the 39 matches that have been played between the arch rivals on Indian soil, Pakistan has won an impressive 23 encounters to India’s 14, with just two draws.

So, it’s no wonder that India tries its best to avoid this embarrassing statistic being bumped up even further. But one would expect that these tactics would solely be restricted to on-the-field gamesmanship; India could have outrun us, they could have outfought us. Heck, they could have even outscored us to coax those numbers in their favour, as long as it was on the AstroTurf. But no, India did what India does. Resorting to unjust means, they out-politicised us off-the-field.

With the 2016 Junior Hockey World Cup scheduled to be held in India from December 8th to 18th, it was the Colts who were all set to humiliate their Indian counterparts in their own country this time around. But succumbing to pressures received from tournament organisers, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) recently announced that Pakistan has been barred from participating in the tournament. They claimed that the former champions failed to confirm their participation by not submitting the relevant documents before the deadline – an accusation the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) vehemently denies. According to PHF, they were unable to confirm their travel plans due to continuous delay from India in issuing visas to the Pakistani team.
“This version of the FIH is completely baseless as the PHF had submitted visa application forms along with the relevant documents pertaining to visa formalities well in time on October 24th,” the PHF said in an official statement.

The financial clout that India has in the sporting industry allows it to hold sway over a lot of sport governing bodies and FIH is no different. Incidentally, Pakistan’s place in the tournament has been replaced by Malaysia — a team recently defeated by Pakistan Juniors in the semis of the Sultan of Johor Cup – who were ironically issued visas by the Indian authorities in a record time duration.
“India is ready to provide visas to the Malaysian team, who have replaced Pakistan, in three-days’ time. When the Pakistan hockey team last visited India, for the SAF games in February this year, the visa had been issued within two weeks of submission,” the statement added.

The Colts were ready to travel despite the prevailing tension between the two countries along the Line of Control (LoC), and such was their desire to prove their superiority in a sportsman-like manner that they were willing to cross the border without demanding any additional security.

But enough is enough; the PHF secretary, Shehbaz Ahmed, said that after the recent unfair snub, the federation will boycott all India-hosted events:
“We will certainly not be participating in any tournament there [in India],” he said. “The way the Indian government handled the matter of issuing visa for our players, it’s definitely damaging for the game of hockey.”

He also pointed out how during the last year or so, resources had been spent on training the junior team for this very event.

Pakistan made two preparatory tours of Europe this summer, and the improvement was evident when the Colts – who finished sixth in the 2015 Sultan of Johor Cup – to everyone’s surprise, played the final of the same event in 2016.
“All this has now gone down the drain. The junior boys, who had been looking forward to appear in the biggest event for their life, are in a state of shock. Pakistan hockey was banking on this bunch of players for the revival of its fortunes. This unjust act has pushed our hockey back a few years,” Ahmed remarked.

India might take away the chance for us to compete in the upcoming tournament, but what they cannot take away from us is our record against them, which coincidentally, like our junior side, is going nowhere, anytime soon.

[poll id="712"]
WRITTEN BY:
Hassan Sardar The author is an aspiring filmmaker and a diehard Liverpool fan. He also teaches Screenwriting and Cinematography, and loves tattoos and flip-flops. He tweets as @CineSardar (https://twitter.com/CineSardar)
The views expressed by the writer and the reader comments do not necassarily reflect the views and policies of the Express Tribune.

COMMENTS (32)

Yogi Berra | 7 years ago | Reply This PHF president does not understand one thing....India does not want to play Pak. So if he boycotts then that suits Indian interests. Is he batting for India or Pakistan interests? Who is at weaker wicket here and who should swallow the insult for their own sake? Where is commonsense here?
LS | 7 years ago | Reply Yeah we won the world cup and you? Just empty words.. Loving it.. Your country anyway does not figure anywhere in U-19 anyway.
VIEW MORE COMMENTS
Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ