After the much-speculated decision of expunging Pakistan from the Junior Hockey World Cup, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is now considering filing a case with the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Geneva against the International Hockey Federation (FIH).
The PTI reported on Thursday that the board is already in discussion with specialised solicitors in the field of sports management. The PHF has spent millions of rupees on the team’s preparatory campaign for the Junior World Cup and their travel expenses to India.
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Pakistan was dropped from the list of 16 participating nations in the World Cup on the sole ground that they had not fulfilled confirmation requirements before the given deadline for teams. Instead, Malaysia was incorporated in the tournament.
Shahbaz Ahmed, the PHF secretary, found it diabolical that while the IHC had not returned passports of Pakistani players, India had already issued visas for the Malaysian team. “What happened to the deadline and dates while issuing them visas at short notice. We know what has happened with us," he fired.
According to PTI, a source said, "Nothing is decided as yet but it could happen. Because the PHF is clear that the FIH which is headed by an Indian, Narender Batra has dealt unjustly with it."
The former Pakistan player appeared before a standing committee in the national assembly and briefed them on the situation that led to the FIH decision after the Indian High Commission didn't issue visas for the hockey contingent.
“We are not going to take this lying down. It is unfair to us and has hurt our hockey," Shahbaz, who is adamant on taking legal steps against the decision which deprived Pakistan their right to play in spite of qualifying for the mega event, told the committee members.
Ahmed clearly emphasised that the applications for the passports of Pakistani players and officials have been sent to the Indian High Commission(IHC) for issuance on November 16. The IHC, on the contrary, claims that their directives state that the Pakistan team needed to apply for the visas at least six weeks in advance.
However, surprisingly, the PHF has not retreated their World Cup training camp in Lahore and the players are still following their regular regime under the supervision of their head coach, Tahir Zaman.
