With this communication, the AHF formally announces the postponement of the Bangabandhu Al-Arafah Islami Bank Men’s Junior Asia Cup Dhaka 2021.
We are all still going through difficult times of great uncertainty with the pandemic continuing to have a massive impact on daily life in many countries and restrictions on travel still persisting. The Bangladesh Hockey Federation as the host of the Bangabandhu Al-Arafah Islami Bank Men’s Junior Asia Cup Dhaka 2021 has had intense discussions with its national government around some aspects of this, such as the ongoing lockdowns and recently introduced flight and travel restrictions of Bangladesh in the wake of ongoing pandemic situation, and BHF and AHF subsequently discussed the uncertainty around the ability to hold the Junior Asia Cup in an orderly, sensible and fair manner in July.
Apart from the protection of players’, team staff and officials’ health and welfare being a priority, we also need to consider that the Junior Asia Cup is a top-level event, a Junior World Cup qualifier and a competition featuring athletes who are only one step from playing at the very highest level of our sport, so we must ensure appropriate conditions for the event and minimize the risk of qualified teams and athletes being unable to participate.
Therefore, unfortunately, AHF has to communicate that we are forced to postpone the Men’s Junior Asia Cup.
Since the confirmation of the decision of a postponement is very recent, we will require some time to confirm new dates, but they will be confirmed as soon as possible.