Hockey: Players consulted over Pakistan trip

By TERRY MADDAFORD


The players will have a major say if the New Zealand men's hockey team are to contest the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan in December.

Within hours of learning of Sunday night's bomb blast in Lahore, national coach Kevin Towns contacted prospective squad members.

New Zealand Hockey Federation chief executive Ramesh Patel said the players' responses could lead to the association reconsidering their decision to accept the invitation to the December 4-12 tournament.

"Ever since we won the right to play we have monitored the situation very carefully," Patel said. "We have been in constant contact with our international federation, the New Zealand police and Foreign Affairs. On Sunday I spoke to an FIH representative who was comfortable with the security arrangements."

Tournament officials have since been rocked not only by the suicide bomb blast at a mosque which killed four people but the subsequent Australian withdrawal.

The Australians always had reservations about playing in Lahore, so their decision to stay away is hardly surprising. They have been replaced by seventh-ranked India.

"There are still six weeks before the team is scheduled to leave for Pakistan," Patel said. "I expect some more information from the FIH in the next few days. It is not only us. There are five other countries involved."

There have been no suggestions as to where the tournament could be held if it does not go ahead in Lahore.

Pakistan was set to host the 2001 Champions Trophy, but that tournament was moved post-September 11. The Pakistanis also postponed a planned home series against New Zealand in the same year.

In other bombings this month in Pakistan, 31 people were killed in Sialkot at a Shi'ite mosque and 40 at a gathering of Sunni radicals in Multan City.

The prospect of a Pakistan-India clash is a mouth-watering one for the hosts. In a clash between the two countries in Chandigarh, India, last week organisers had to close the gates when 40,000 people tried to squeeze into the 30,000-seat stadium to watch a 1-1 draw.

The match overshadowed the India-Australia cricket test.