Mumbai: Dismissing threats of a possible ban by Hockey India on local players participating in the World Series Hockey (WSH), the organisers of the multi-million dollar tournament on Monday said that all those who have signed up will certainly play in the upcoming event.
"I am extremely happy to say that all Indian players who have signed up for the WSH will 100 per cent play in the event," said Yannick Colaco, chief operating officer of Nimbus Sports, which has floated the League in association with the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF).
IHF, headed by RK Shetty, is not recognised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH) which has given affiliation to rival body Hockey India and has declared WSH as an unsanctioned tournament.
Colaco, after the announcement of the players draft on Monday, said WSH's dates were scheduled as an ideal preparation for the national team ahead of next year's Olympic qualifiers in Delhi.
"As per the dates announced earlier, the camp for the pre-Olympic qualifiers was to start on January 24 and WSH ends on January 22. We had fixed the dates to prepare the Indian team for the Olympic qualifiers," he said.
Asked about the reported threat of Pakistan Hockey Federation to stop its players from taking part in the WSH, Colaco said, "We have not received any letter from the PHF till yesterday (Sunday)."
"All the players who have signed up are going to play. In fact, the government has cleared their visas. Three off them are arriving on December 1 and the rest on December 5," he added.
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