Karachi: The Federal Government of Pakistan on Wednesday ‘approved’ a budget of RS250m well for the participation of the National Men’s Hockey Team at the FIH Pro League.
According to the details, the government has issued a total of RS400M to provide money to the sports federation. From the amount released, RS250M was provided to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to guarantee the participation of the national team in the Pro League.
In the meantime, the remaining sum was allocated for the staging of the inaugural national youth competitions, planned to be held in Islamabad.
With the issue of the fund, the PHF will probably confirm the availability of its national team to the International Hockey Federation (FIH) for the Pro League soon, added sources.
The Apex Hockey Federation, last month, formally invited the Pakistan men’s team to participate in the Pro League after the withdrawal of New Zealand from the tournament despite winning the Nations Cup.
In the meantime, the PHF received a deadline of 12 August to inform the Apex Federation about their decision to accept or refuse the invitation.
However, the PHF had asked for an extension because they were in discussion with the government.
“Discussions with the government with regard to the Pro League are underway, good news will come soon,” PHF President Tariq Bugti had said earlier this month.
“Fih had given a deadline of 12 August to inform, but we asked an extension of the deadline until August 20,” he added.
The PHF president was also of the opinion that the Pro League participation will provide the national team sufficient exposure, while also revealed that the Federation had sent a budget of PKR 350 million to the government for approval.
Atique Ur Rehman is a senior reporter for Geo News.
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