While the focus is mainly on the Asia Cup to be held in Rajgir in August at the moment, it is also learnt from highly placed sources that Pakistan can also lose out from participating in the Junior World Cup scheduled to be held in Madurai and Chennai in November.
For the record, Madurai is getting ready with serious government support and preparations are on in full swing while Chennai is already ready having hosted the 2023 Asian Champions Trophy. Under the new FIH rules the tournament now consists of 24 teams instead of the customary 16 and Pakistan would have been one of them.
In current circumstances, it looks highly unlikely that Pakistan will be allowed to feature in it and in such a case it is to be seen how FIH picks the 24th and last team.
Sources have also confirmed that the draw, which was to be held in the first week of May was postponed with the FIH President not having the requisite travel clearance to come to India.
While the World Cup will indeed be organised in the best possible manner, the one loser in this whole scenario is Pakistan. In what could be a telling blow to their hockey, they now stand the risk of losing out from a part of this very prestigious event.