Pakistan lack fund to participate in FIH pro league
The Pakistan hockey team’s participation in the 2025-26 FIH Pro League is in jeopardy due to a financial crisis, potentially derailing the three-time Olympic champions’ anticipated comeback on the international stage. The Pakistan men’s hockey team, which has won the World Cup four times, has been invited to compete in the FIH Pro League 2025-26 after New Zealand, which had earned direct qualification by winning the 2024-25 Nations Cup, decided not to participate in the upcoming season. The International Hockey Federation (FIH) on Wednesday invited Pakistan to join the top-tier Pro League after New Zealand, who had originally qualified, chose not to field a team. However, the invite has triggered a series of crises in Pakistan hockey with calls now for the country’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to intervene. In a press release after a meeting on Thursday, the PSB said according to Dawn: “Concerning the invitation to participate in the FIH Pro League, [the] members authorised the PSB president Rana Sanaullah to take the final decision. It was agreed that a formal letter, outlining the rationale and objectives of participation, would be sent by the PSB President to the Prime Minister.” “But whether this will be possible has to be seen as the PSB will send a summary to the Prime Minister for allocation of special funds to allow the PHF to send the team to the Pro League,” an official in the PSB said. The International Hockey Federation (FIH), the game’s governing body, formally extended the invitation to Pakistan on Wednesday and had given them a deadline till August 12 to inform their confirmation. Pakistan, which has failed to qualify for the last three Olympics and also World Cup, has been given an opportunity by the FIH to compete against top tier teams Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, India, Netherlands and Spain in the competition that will be held from December, 2025 till June, 2026. However, the cash-strapped Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) lacks the funds to send the team to the Pro League. The PHF has requested the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to release 700 million rupees (around USD 2.5 million) for the entire campaign. Rasheedul Hassan, an Olympic gold medallist who has launched a campaign against the PHF, said unfortunately the officials who had managed the federation affairs for last many years had failed to keep a clean image. In its recent annual meeting, the state-run PSB made it clear that it doesn’t have the funds to ensure Pakistan’s participation in the Pro League. The PSB has directed the PHF to submit detailed accounts of the funds allocated to them since last year and has refused to release more funds to the national federation to cover daily and travel allowances of players and officials who attended the recent FIH Nations Cup. For record, Pakistan is the most successful national team in the Asian Games history, with eight gold medals — 1958, 1962, 1970, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1990, and 2010, the highest number of times a country has become Asian Champion. Pakistan is also the only Asian team to have won the prestigious Champions Trophy thrice — 1978, 1980 and 1994.
