New Delhi, January 5

Confusion reigns supreme as to what led to the cancellation of the four-nation tournament in the capital but it now appears that the International Hockey Federation denied a go-ahead for the event because it had apprehensions about the preparedness of the National Stadium. In his e-mail to Hockey India officials in which he explained why the world body did not give permission for the event, FIH Umpires Development Manager Richard Wilson said they had concerns about the venue.

“At the moment we are reluctant to grant approval, since it is not clear to us whether there will be a pitch ready to play the tournament on and whether the other associated facilities (such as pitch watering, goals/nets, changing rooms and other infrastructure) will be in place in time,” Wilson said. At the same time, FIH was also apprehensive of the availability of top teams for the event.

“We also have concerns as to whether the teams you indicate that you will invite to play will be available at this late stage in their preparations for the World Cup,” Wilson said. Hockey India president AK Mattoo yesterday did not give any reasons for the cancellation of the tourney which was expected to be a test event before the hockey World Cup and merely said that they were trying to pencil in a bilateral Test series against France.

Players demand dues, threaten to leave camp

The Indian hockey players have threatened to pull out of the ongoing national training camp in Pune if they are not paid their match fee for the recently concluded Champions Challenge I tournament in Argentina. — PTI