India sends back Pakistani hockey players amidst tensions at LoC

In the wake of protests following border tension between the arch-rivals, nine Pakistani players were on Tuesday withdrawn from a new field hockey league in India and asked to return home.

Shiv Sena protests in Mumbai forced the team to shift training base to Delhi, Hockey India decided to play safe and send the team’s Pakistani signings back.”

Fearing escalation of tension, the Hockey India’s Governing Council has taken the decision to send back the four Pakistani players in the Mumbai team,” a top Hockey India official told Press Trust of India news agency.

The four players who would be sent back are Mahmood Rashid, Fareed Ahmed, Muhammad Tousiq and Imran Butt and they are expected to take the flight home this evening.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation has been informed about the decision and the circumstances under which it was taken. The PHF has expressed understanding of the situation.

“The contracts of the four Pakistani players would remain valid and the payments would be made to them although they would not be playing in any of the matches,” the official said. In all, there are nine players contracted to play in the five-team Hockey India League, which got underway yesterday.

“We will take a decision about the other Pakistani players depending on how the situation pans out. If we feel that there could be more trouble, we may have to take an appropriate decision,” he said.

Over 100 Sena workers had protested against the participation of Pakistani players in the Mumbai franchise and disrupted the scheduled practice session on Sunday. This prompted the team management to shift base to Delhi.

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Posted by Web Desk on Jan 16 2013. Filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.