Canada pulls out of hockey tourney in Dhaka over security concerns

Bangladesh was scheduled to play Canada from March 4-12 to advance in the tournament. Abdus Sadek, general secretary of Bangladesh Hockey Federation, said: “International Hockey Federation confirmed Canada’s withdrawal from the tournament. We are still trying to convince them.” Sadek mentioned that an all-inclusive security plan was drawn up by Bangladeshi authorities for all the teams in the tournament. He further said it was disappointing since Canada would have been the highest ranked team in the tournament. Canada is the second team to refuse to send its hockey team to Bangladesh. Earlier in August 2016, Japan also withdrew their team from the Under-18 tournament, since they lost seven citizens in the Gulshan café attack on July 1, reports the Daily Mail.