Waiting for ministry confirmation, but good decision to give Pak the nod: Tirkey

New Delhi, Jul 3 (PTI) Former Indian hockey captain and Hockey India president Dilip Tirkey on Thursday welcomed the government's decision to allow the Pakistani team from playing in the upcoming multi-nation tournaments in India, though he said he was yet to get an official confirmation from the sports ministry.

A ministry source said on Thursday that Pakistan's hockey teams will not be stopped from competing in next month's Asia Cup and the subsequent Junior World Cup in India as any move to block the arch-foes from multilateral competitions in the country would be a violation of the Olympic Charter.

While the Asia Cup is scheduled in Rajgir, Bihar from August 27 to September 7, the Junior World Cup will be organised in Chennai and Madurai from November 28 to December 10.

"We have not received official information yet and I am also hearing this from the media. But if the government has given approval, then it is a very good decision for hockey," the three-time Olympian, who played 412 matches for the country, told PTI Bhasha.

"India is going to host two important tournaments. The Asia Cup will be held in Rajgir and the Junior World Cup in Chennai and Madurai, and Pakistan is one of the participating countries," said the veteran full back, who was called "the wall of Indian Hockey" in his playing days.

A former Rajya Sabha MP from the Biju Janata Dal, Tirkey also said that hockey matches between India and Pakistan are good for the promotion of the game because people love to watch the Asian giants play against each other.

"This is good publicity for the game and it will also be good for the success of the tournament," he said.

"We are making our preparations. After the recent tensions between the two countries, this will probably be the first visit of any team from Pakistan to India, so tight security measures will be put in place accordingly," he said.

He added that there has been no talk with the Pakistan Hockey Federation at the moment with regard to the participation of their teams.

"There is no recent communication but obviously they are a participant country and we will communicate once the picture is clear," he said.

Recalling the India-Pakistan hockey matches during his playing days, Tirkey said that despite the on-field rivalry, there used to be camaraderie among the players.

"When I started, our team had legends like Pargat Singh, Dhanraj Pillay and the Pakistani team had stars like Shahbaz Senior, Tahir Zaman, after which players like Sohail Abbas, Wasim Ahmed, Shakeel Abbasi came. There was great rivalry between the two teams on the field but there was friendship off the field," he said. PTI MJ AM AM AM