Pakistan receives formal invitation to join Hockey Pro League 2025-26 after New Zealand pulls out

Lausanne (Switzerland), July 23 After Hockey New Zealand notified the International Hockey Federation (FIH) of their decision not to participate in the next FIH Hockey Pro League Men’s season despite having won the FIH Hockey Nations Cup last month, FIH has, in accordance with the regulations, extended an invitation to the Nations Cup runners-up Pakistan, to join the 2025-26 Pro League edition.

The Pakistan Hockey Association has been given a deadline till August 12 to inform FIH of their decision to accept or deny the invitation, the FIH informed in a statement on Wednesday.

The 2024-25 FIH Hockey Pro League crowned both Dutch teams, Women’s and Men’s, as champions. The upcoming season will be the seventh one of the “League of the Best”.

New Zealand, which was at one time ranked as high as No.5 in the FIH World Rankings, has slipped to No.12 in the latest list. The sport, which used to get a lot of support from the New Zealand government, is not receiving similar support post-COVID-19 pandemic.

Winner of the Olympic gold medal in the 1978 Games in Montreal, New Zealand had finished ninth in the Tokyo Olympic Games but slipped to 12th in Paris last year.

Meanwhile, Pakistan too has been struggling to make it back to the top echelons of international hockey. A three-time winner of Olympic gold medals, Pakistan has failed to qualify for the last three editions of the Olympic Games. They last played in the 2012 London Olympic Games, finishing seventh in the final standings.

Though the FIH has allowed the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to step in as a substitute for the FIH Pro League, arranging funds for the foreign travel would be quite difficult. PHF has not been able to pay the daily allowances to the players for their participation in the Nations Cup till recently. The PHF has regularly complained about a lack of funds for preparing the teams for the major events.

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