PHF secretary to meet Sindh chief minister next week

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Olympian Asif Bajwa will visit all four provinces to meet the chief ministers and seek their help in the promotion of hockey, ‘The News’ has learnt.

While talking to ‘The News’, the PHF secretary said that he would reach Karachi later this week to finalise the arrangements of national championship in Karachi, which is scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 7 at Abdul Sattar stadium.

During his stay in Karachi he will meet Sindh chief minister Syed Murad Ali Shah. He said that after the visit of Sindh, he would go to Quetta, Peshawar, and Lahore. Bajwa, recently appointed the secretary of PHF, had announced that he would visit all four provinces and meet the chief ministers to seek their financial help for organising maximum number of domestic events at grassroots level, especially in those cities where astro turf is available.

Bajwa said the Sindh government had laid a number of astro turfs in various cities and had also provided financial help to PHF in its difficult time. He said he would request the CM to provide further support for the promotion of the national game.

For a long time, PHF has faced lack of funds as a result of which the national game has suffered. Bajwa confirmed that Pakistan would participate in Junior Asia Cup 2019, and South Asian Games (SAG) later this year. The players for the two assignments would be selected on the basis of the performance in the national championship. The PHF secretary said he hoped that during his visit to Karachi, the dispute of Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) would also be resolved.