Pakistan to host FIH Nations Cup, Naseer Bunda stadium gets FIH centre status
Ten teams are expected to compete, and 24 News HD reported the tournament will be played in Lahore next February under an agreement signed with the PHF.
Pakistan will host the next FIH Nations Cup, International Hockey Federation President Tayyab Ikram announced at a ceremony in Islamabad, where the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium was also approved as an official FIH High Performance Centre.
Ten teams are expected to take part, The Express Tribune reported. 24 News HD reported that the tournament will be held in Lahore next February and that a hosting agreement was signed between the Pakistan Hockey Federation and the FIH at the ceremony.
Information Minister Attaullah Tarar, Rana Sanaullah, Ikram, members of parliament and former Olympians attended, according to 24 News HD.
Sanaullah, whom The Express Tribune identified as the federal minister for inter-provincial coordination, said the government stood with the hockey federation and would give players the facilities and support they needed. He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed the government to give hockey special attention, and asked the PHF to prepare a comprehensive plan for the sport's revival.
He said Pakistan had once been among the world's leading hockey teams and that the sport had become a national hallmark, while recent results had been disappointing. The Pakistan Sports Board falls under his ministry, he said, and the whole federal cabinet backed the federation, Samaa reported.
Sanaullah said players needed financial assistance and access to international coaches. He said senior former players should help rebuild the game, and that people previously associated with the PHF had played politics with the sport instead of developing it.
Ikram said the Nations Cup ranks among hockey's biggest competitions after the World Cup and the Olympic Games. He said Pakistan needed to improve its hockey governance structure and invest in the national team's preparations, and that players needed financial support, modern training facilities and coaches who met international standards. The Express Tribune reported that Ikram also said India should come to Pakistan to play hockey.
PHF president Mohyuddin Wani said efforts were being made at government level to promote the sport and described the event as a step towards a new era for Pakistan hockey. MNA Zeb Jaffar said hosting a ten-team international tournament would promote hockey in the country and called the PHF-FIH agreement a milestone.
How the reports differ
24 News HD reported that the tournament will be played in Lahore next February and that a hosting agreement was signed, details the other two reports did not carry, and named Information Minister Attaullah Tarar among those at the ceremony. The Express Tribune alone reported Ikram's remark that India should come to Pakistan to play hockey, and named PHF president Mohyuddin Wani and MNA Zeb Jaffar. The three gave Rana Sanaullah different titles: federal minister for inter-provincial coordination in The Express Tribune, the prime minister's adviser on political affairs in Samaa, and adviser on inter-provincial coordination in 24 News HD.
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