Karachi, July 21, 2007 -  The Australian hockey team is to skip this year's Champions Trophy tournamentto be held in Lahore in December.

According to Hockey Australia sources, the Federation of International Hockey (FIH) has been informed of the team's inability to participate, citing security fears.

According to the Dawn, this would be the second time in three years that the Australian hockey team will not be coming to play one of the major FIH events.

Earlier, in 2004, Olympic Champions Australia had also skipped the Champions Trophy on similar grounds.

The decision of Hockey Australia is a major blow for the Pakistan Hockey Federation. Sources close to FIH added that the Spanish Hockey Federation may follow suit next week. (ANI)