Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Pakistan-Egypt hockey series postponed as protests continue


LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has officially postponed the proposed tour of Egypt, citing the poor law and order situation presently gripping the African state.

The national squad were to tour Egypt from Feb 22 and in response Pakistan was to host them in April.

“After receiving advice from the federal government, the PHF has decided to postpone the tour and any further decision in this regard will be taken with the mutual consent of the Egyptian hockey authorities,” the PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said on Tuesday.

Bajwa further said the bilateral series might also be cancelled if the current situation in Egypt did not improve in the near future.

He said Egypt was interested in the series as it could help their team prepare for the Olympic qualifiers in April, the PHF official remarked.

If the Pakistan-Egypt contests did not materialise in the near future, the series would not serve the real purpose and thus it could be cancelled, Bajwa revealed.

The PHF was also interested in the series since it wanted the resumption of international hockey in Pakistan which has been not been possible for the last many years due to terrorism.

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