FIH junior World Cup 2021: Pakistan hockey coach Danish Kaleem feels lack of job opportunities for players affecting sport
Zee News
Pakistan men’s senior hockey side have now failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2016 and 2021 in Tokyo Olympics, whereas India went on to win the bronze medal from the discipline this year. Now the junior Pakistan hockey team is in India for the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2021 in Bhubaneshwar after being denied Indian visa back in 2016.
The Pakistan team were one of the powerhouses when it came to the sport of hockey. Pakistan hockey team have an enviable record of being three-time Olympic champions (1960, 1968 and 1984) and four-time World Cup winners (1971, 1978, 1982 and 1994) but the sport has been on the decline in the recent year.
Pakistan men’s senior hockey side have now failed to qualify for the Olympics in 2016 and 2021 in Tokyo Olympics, whereas India went on to win the bronze medal from the discipline this year. Now the junior Pakistan hockey team is in India for the FIH Hockey Men’s Junior World Cup 2021 in Bhubaneshwar after being denied Indian visa back in 2016.
Pakistan junior men’s hockey team head coach Danish Kaleem believes ‘lack of job opportunities’ for hockey players has led to decline of the sport in the country. “There can be a lot of reasons for the decline of hockey in Pakistan. Job opportunities for hockey players are very limited which prevents youngsters from taking up the sport. It can be one of the reasons which may have affected our hockey team’s performance,” Kaleem said during a virtual media conference ahead of the Junior World Cup on Monday (November 22).