NEW DELHI: The Sports Authority of India made it clear that unpreparedness of the National Stadium is not the reason behind the cancellation of the four-nation hockey tournament which was scheduled to start on January 13.

Hockey India president AK Mattoo didn’t disclose reasons why the Test event before the hockey World Cup was scrapped but a SAI official said the International Hockey Federation did not approve of the tournament due to non-availability of quality teams.

“There was no issues with the stadium. As far as we are concerned, the stadium will be ready by January 13. They require just one turf, floodlighting for the event and it is already there. The turf has already been laid, the change rooms are ready, the ceiling is ready, the VIP lounge is ready. Even Hockey India office is ready in the stadium,” Joint Secretary and Special Officer of Commonwealth Games Hardip Singh Kingra said.

“They don’t require the whole stadium to conduct the tournament. The reason behind the cancellation is non-availability of teams,” he said.

“Hockey India wrote to the FIH for approval of the event on November 24. On December 7, they sent a reminder but the FIH wrote back on December 9 saying that it cannot approve the tournament as there are no quality teams,” he said.

“Instead, the FIH suggested a bilateral Test series against teams like Malaysia who have not qualified for the World Cup,” the official added.