England to replace Australia in Champions Trophy

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Lahore, July 26: In all probability England will replace Australia in the six-nations Champions Trophy Hockey tournament to be held in Pakistan later this year.

The Olympic champions pulled out of the tournament after their foreign ministry adviced Hockey Australia board to avoid travelling to Pakistan for the December 1-9 tournament, because of security concerns created as a result of death of over 200 people, including several foreigners, in July alone in a series of bomb blasts following a military operation at Lal Masjid.

'The Post' quoted Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) media manager and former International hockey player Altaf Sabir as saying that the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has informed that they will decide about the replacement team during their meeting at Beijing to be held from August 7 to 11.

''England was seventh ranked team in the World Cup and hopefully they will be invited to participate but the final decision power lies with the FIH,'' he added.

However, it might come as a big blow to Pakistan if the FIH decides to shift the venue to another country. The FIH had earlier issued an warning to the organisers after Australia's pull-out that if the poliical situation of the host nation does not improve, then it might think of conducting the tournament in another country.

UNI