Hockey India Federation Chief, Narendra Batra, has said that the inclusion of Pakistani hockey players is strictly forbidden into the Hockey Indian League 2016 until the Green Shirts issue an apology for their misconduct in 2014 Champions Trophy, which was held in Bhubaneswar.
As Indian Hockey Federation looks set to launch a new season of Hockey Indian League (HIL) in 2016,
Speaking to Press Trust of India, Batra said, “I would be happy to have Pakistani players but not with the behavior they expressed in the Champions Trophy event. Since then, they have shown no regret to that incident in writing or through any other source.”
He further added that, “I don’t want to politicize the whole scenario, but the behavior shown was rather unacceptable.”
In the aftermath of those events, The International Hockey Federation (FIH), a governing body for hockey, put bans on two of the Pakistan players on December 14th, 2015.
Shahnaz Shaikh, the head coach at the time, had apologized to the public and to the Hockey Federation for the obscene gestures that were shown by his team after they beat India 4-3 in a breathtaking encounter last year.
In his statement, Tournament Director Champions Trophy, Weirt Doyer said that, “Shahnaz Shaikh has apologized for the acts and has made sure that such actions won’t take place again.”