Times Of India

KARACHI: The International Hockey Federation (FIH) has refused wild card entries to Pakistan and India for the 2009 Champions Trophy men’s hockey
tournament to be held in Melbourne in November.

An official in the Pakistan Hockey Federation confirmed that the FIH had turned down request from Pakistan to give the country wild card entry for the mega event as the former Asian giants could not qualify directly for the tournament.

“We had sent a request that since Pakistan and India are major players in world hockey they should be allowed wild card entries for the Champions Trophy where number of teams can be increased to eight to accommodate them,” said the official.