Pakistan gamers sing nationwide anthem forward of their FIH Nations Cup Pool B match in opposition to New Zealand on the Nationwide Hockey Stadium in Kuala Lumpur on June 18, 2025. — FIH
KARACHI: The Worldwide Hockey Federation (FIH) on Monday introduced the schedule of the Professional League, with the blockbuster conflict between arch-rivals Pakistan and India set to be performed in England in June subsequent yr.
In keeping with the main points, the opening spherical of the nine-team event will get underway on December 9, throughout which the nationwide crew will tackle the Netherlands and the house aspect Argentina.
The Inexperienced Shirts will then depart for Australia, the place they are going to lock horns with the host nation and Germany between February 10 and 15 within the second spherical.
Within the third spherical of the Hockey Professional League, scheduled to run from June 13 to 21, Pakistan will tackle Spain and the house aspect Belgium earlier than finally heading to England for the ultimate spherical, throughout which they tackle The Three Lions and fierce rivals India between June 23 and 25.
For the unversed, Pakistan have been formally invited by the apex physique to take part within the ‘League of the Finest’ after Hockey New Zealand withdrew from the nine-team event regardless of successful the FIH Nations Cup earlier this yr in Malaysia.
The PHF was initially given a deadline of August 12 to verify its nationwide males’s crew’s participation, however the federation sought an extension till August 20 because it was awaiting monetary help from the federal government.
The federation was subsequently issued Rs250m for the occasion on Wednesday, resulting in it confirming its males’s crew’s participation the subsequent day.
“The Worldwide Hockey Federation (FIH) can affirm that the Pakistan males’s hockey crew, nicknamed the Inexperienced Shirts, have accepted the invitation to take part within the upcoming 2025-26 season of the FIH Hockey Professional League,” the apex physique mentioned in a press release.
Pakistan will be a part of arch-rivals India, alongside Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain within the upcoming seventh version of the event, changing Eire, who have been relegated after ending final within the earlier season.
Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports activities) at Geo Information.
