Asian Champions Trophy 2026: ‘Pakistan Hockey Team To Participate’, Says Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann

Mohali, Sep 14: Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Monday (September 14) claimed that Pakistan Hockey Team will be participating in the upcoming Asian Champions Trophy 2026, scheduled to be held in Mohali. The multi-lateral competiton, which would see six teams battling it out for the coveted trophy, will be held between October 27 and November 5.

The competition will feature defending champions India along with arch-rivals Pakistan, China, Japan, Korea and Malaysia. The tournament will be hosted in Jalandhar and Mohali.

Oman and Bangladesh have been have also been named for the tournament as reserves in case of pullouts. The event, which is held under the aegis of the Asian Hockey Federation, is an annual competition but was not held last year.

Team India enter the competition as defending champions, having won the title in 2023 (Chennai) and 2024 (Hulunbuir, China). “There is no problem in multi-national tournaments. May be individual series (India and Pakistan) cannot take place,” Mann said when asked about Pakistan’s participation and whether the requisite clearances have been taken for it.

The central sports policy with regards to Pakistan bars any bilateral engagement with the country against which India launched a brief military offensive just last year after the Pahalgam terror attack killed 26 people. However, adhering to the Olympic Charter, the Sports Ministry had last year clarified that the two countries can compete against each other in multi-lateral events and India would not stop athletes from across the border to play here for such engagements.

Despite this, Pakistan withdrew from the Junior World Cup of hockey in Tamil Nadu last year, citing high tensions between the two countries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor.

Mann said league stage ACT matches will be played at Jalandhar, while the semi-final and the final will be played in Mohali stadium. Assuring full support for hosting the event, Mann said Punjab is committed to ensuring the successful organisation of the first-ever tournament in the state’s history.

Hockey India secretary general Bhola Nath Singh, who was also in attendance at Monday’s event, said the relationship between the hockey federations of India and Pakistan is “excellent”.

“I want to say this on record that we share very good relations between the hockey federations of India and Pakistan. “You must have noticed that whenever I go, if the Indian team defeats Pakistan, I meet the Pakistani team first. The boys (players) there also show immense respect,” said Singh.

The Asian Champions Trophy final will be staged in Mohali on November 5.

(With PTI Inputs)