England pulls out of men’s Junior Hockey WC in Bhubaneswar; notes India’s travel rules for UK nationals

England
Hockey
said
in
a
statement
that
it
has
informed
world
hockey
governing
body,
FIH,
of
its
decision
to
“unfortunately”
withdraw
from
the
November
24-December
5
tournament.

“…with
a
number
of
COVID-related
concerns
in
place,
and
with
player
and
staff
well-being
in
mind,
it
has
become
untenable
for
our
team
to
participate.
We
note
that
on
Friday
the
Indian
government
announced
a
mandatory
ten-day
quarantine
for
all
UK
nationals,”
the
statement
said.

India
imposed
reciprocal
curbs
on
all
British
nationals
arriving
in
the
country
after
UK
made
it
clear
that
even
fully
vaccinated
Indians
will
have
to
undergo
10-day
quarantine
there
as
it
has
issues
with
India’s
COVID-19
vaccine
certification.

Under
India’s
new
norms,
all
British
nationals
arriving
here
from
the
UK,
irrespective
of
their
vaccination
status,
will
have
to
produce
the
result
of
the
RT-PCR
test
done
within
72
hours
before
travel.
They
will
also
have
to
undertake
two
more
RT-PCR
tests,
one
on
their
arrival
at
the
airport
in
India
and
the
second
one
on
Day
8
after
arrival.

The
England
hockey
body
said
its
decision
to
withdraw
“sits
alongside”
the
recent
pullouts
by
the
Australia
and
New
Zealand
hockey
federations.

Performance
Director
Ed
Barney
said:
“With
a
heavy
heart
we
have
chosen
to
withdraw
from
the
tournament.
We
are
hugely
empathetic
to
the
players
and
coaches
who
will
miss
out
on
this
opportunity
to
represent
their
country.

“This
event
is
the
pinnacle
of
junior
international
hockey
and
we
know
how
much
effort
and
dedication
the
squad
has
shown
over
the
past
18
months
to
prepare
for
this
throughout
the
pandemic.”

Barney
said
Hockey
India
and
the
FIH
have
done
all
they
could
but
in
a
global
pandemic
“our
collective
hands
are
tied,
sadly.”

He
said
with
the
final
tournament
details
having
been
published
late
last
month,
it
has
made
the
situation
very
difficult
for
all
concerned.

“We
have
experienced
the
herculean
effort
that
went
into
the
Olympic
Games,
and
alongside
this
we
saw
the
implications
across
some
British
sports
and
our
international
hockey
counterparts
when
COVID
was
prevalent.

“On
balance,
and
against
clear
criterion,
we
have
made
the
difficult
decision
that
it
is
not
appropriate
for
our
junior
international
men
to
travel.”

England
Hockey
said
it
will
continue
to
monitor
travel
restrictions
placed
on
South
Africa
ahead
of
the
Women’s
Junior
World
Cup,
scheduled
for
December.