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Border tensions see Pakistani hockey players return home
Tuesday January 15, 2013 08:06:44 PM,
IANS
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New Delhi: All nine Pakistani players, now here for the Hockey India
League (HIL), will be sent home in the wake of the protests
against their presence in the inaugural event when tensions are
mounting on the Line of Control (LoC).
The players leaving for home are Fareed Ahmed, Imran Butt, Mahmood
Rashid and Muhammad Tousiq (all Mumbai Magicians), Muhammad Rizwan
Sr. and Muhammad Rizwan Jr. (Delhi Waveriders), Muhammad Irfan and
Shafqat Rasool (Ranchi Rhinos) and Kashif Shah (Jaypee Punjab
Warriors).
The players, blissfully unaware of the late-evening development,
were practising with their franchise teams.
"The decision was made in consultation with the Pakistan Hockey
Federation (PHF), International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the
franchise officials," HIL chairman Narinder Batra told reporters
Tuesday.
"Due to extraordinary circumstances, we reached a consensus that
it was best for Pakistanis to return home. We did not want them to
play under any sort of pressure. As it is not their fault, they
will be paid according to their three-year contract and the teams
are free to look for their replacements. The decision (to send
them home) however was taken only for 2013," added Batra.
There were indications Monday night that the Pakistani players
might not feel secure enough to play in the league when Jaypee
Punjab Warriors and Delhi Waveriders did not field them in the
inaugural game here.
The clamour for their ouster began when Shiv Sena threatened to
disrupt the Mumbai franchise team's home matches if it fielded the
Pakistani players. The extreme right wing party's action came
following the killing of Indian soldiers at the Line of Control in
Jammu and Kashmir.
Taking the cue, a couple of youngsters raised slogans against the
presence of the Pakistani players during the opening HIL match in
the national capital.
Mumbai Magicians, the franchise which had the maximum number of
Pakistanis in their squad, have already started looking at
replacing Ahmed, Butt, Rashid and Tousiq with players from
Australia and New Zealand.
"Keeping the public sentiment in mind, we have decided to send the
players back to Pakistan," Mumbai Magicians owner Amit Burman told
IANS.
"To replace the Pakistanis, we have already started talking to the
Australian and New Zealand players," he added.
For Punjab Warriors, the absence of Pakistanis from the league
will not make much of a difference as they only have Shah.
"It is unfortunate that they have to return home. The fact that we
had only one Pakistani player in the side, their departure will
not be a huge setback for the team," a Jaypee Warriors official
told IANS.
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