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Journalism of Courage
Hockey India on Monday brushed aside speculations over foreign teams pulling out of the forthcoming World Cup due to security concerns and said all the 11 nations have confirmed their participation in the mega-event starting February 28 here.
“We are fully geared up to host the Hero Honda FIH World Cup competition here from February 28 to March 13,2010. Each of the 11 teams from overseas has confirmed participation,” HI secretary general Narinder Batra said in a statement.
“Australia and Pakistan teams have already arrived in India and the other teams have intimated their arrival schedule as well. Technical officials from overseas have also started arriving. All this augurs well for the success of the competition,” he said.
The statement assumes significance as New Zealand player Simon Child has decided to pull out of the World Cup,even though Hockey New Zealand (HNZ) said it was satisfied with the arrangements made by the Indian government.
Batra claimed all the overseas teams were satisfied with the security arrangements made for the mega event. “The security arrangements were reviewed last week by the International Security Liaison Group in a meeting with the representatives of Heads of Missions of 11 nations in India.
“There is a strong commitment from the authorities’ to implement robust security measures to ensure the safety of the teams and officials at all times. Delhi Police will keep the people at large informed,” Batra said in the statement.
