India Missing From 2026 Hockey World Cup Officiating Panel

Every so often, the best hockey teams in the world get together to play in a huge tournament called the Hockey World Cup.

The people who blow whistles and make sure everyone follows the rules are called umpires, and other helpers are called technical officials.

India is a very strong hockey country, but something unusual happened this year.

For the first time since 1998, not a single umpire or official from India was picked for the World Cup.

Some former umpires from India are sad and disappointed about this.

They explain that umpires get picked after doing really well in many big international games.

They say Indian umpires do not get enough chances to work at those big games.

They also say the job does not pay very well, so many people do not want to become umpires.

The former umpires hope that with better planning and more support, Indian officials will be back at the next World Cup.