Passport-less Rakibul ruled out

Rookie forward Rakibul Hasan will not be available for selection against India as the hosts begin their Asian Champions Trophy campaign at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium today because he does not have a Bangladeshi passport

The Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) declared a 20-member national squad on December 10, including five new players alongside 16-year-old Rakibul. Rakibul played a warm-up match against Pakistan and scored Bangladesh's only goal in a 3-1 defeat, but he is missing the passport required to represent a nation in any international tournament.

"We selected him for the national squad on the basis of his performances in domestic competitions but we don't know whether Rakibul, who is a 16-year-old BKSP student, has a passport or NID," BHF vice-president and selection committee chairman Sajed A Adel said. "We came to know about it on December 12 and he went to Passport office today [Tuesday] but he came back due to a problem with his birth registration. I heard a mistake happened with his mother name," said Adel. "He will go to the passport office tomorrow again and won't be available for the first match against India. But, we hope, he will be available for the next matches."