India calms terror fears over hockey World Cup
New Delhi, Feb 17: India on Wednesday allayed security apprehensions of New Zealand and Australian hockey teams maintaining that it was pulling out all stops for the forthcoming World Cup in the wake of terror threats issued to foreign teams during the 12-team quadrennial event. The renewed assurance comes after New Zealand’s hockey team, which earlier planned to continue with its trip to the February 28-March 13 Hockey World Cup in New Delhi despite an Al Qaeda threat against sports events in India, appeared to be having second thoughts on Wednesday.
The team is in Australia’s Perth city to play two practice matches Wednesday and Friday, and will then decide if it will travel to India as per schedule for the World Cup that begins February 28, the New Zealand Herald reported. As for the Australian team, its players say they ready to play, but Hockey Australia says it is awaiting the result of a new security assessment in view of the terror threat. Assuring security to sportspersons visiting India for the Hockey World Cup and the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament that starts March 12, Home Minister P Chidambaram stressed that militants would not be allowed to dictate terms. “All security would be provided to players. No one would be allowed to dictate terms to us,” Chidambaram said at a press conference in Jammu after reviewing the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir.
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