Pakistan came second in the last edition of the Azlan Shah Cup. Yet the Malaysian Hockey Federation decided against inviting the runners-up for this year's edition in November owing to an "outstanding debt".
Pakistan Hockey Federation owns its Malaysian counterpart money and the Malaysian organisers were "not happy" with the situation. A source told news agency PTI that the PHF officials were trying to sort out the matter with the MHF and hopefully the invite will come later this week.
"A former official of the PHF made some bad decisions during the last Azlan Shah Cup which left the PHF in debt to the MHF, according to a source in PHF.
Pakistan and Malaysia have very strong hockey ties built over the years and this issue should be sorted out, he added.
Meanwhile, defending champions Japan will miss out Azlan Shah Cup because of prior commitments.
The Sultan Azlan Shah Cup began in 1983 as a biennial contest but became an annual event from 1998. The tournament is named after the ninth Monarch of Malaysia, who loved hockey. Australia have won the tournament a record 10 times, while India comes second with dive titles. Pakistan have lifted the coveted trophy three times to date.
Pakistan's economic crisis
Pakistan is facing a severe economic crisis with the consumer price index going up by 27.5 per cent in January 2023 -- the highest in nearly 50 years. The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) data showed that the government's borrowing from commercial banks reached a record PKR 5.5 trillion from July 1, 2023, to April 5, 2024. The Pakistani economy is in serious trouble as the revenue generated is used to pay back the domestic debt and interest. This considerable outflow does not leave space for any government for new development programmes; instead, most of the development funds are slashed for other sectors.
