Olympians demand ad hoc body for PHF affairs

LAHORE: Pakistan Olympians Forum has demanded that the Prime Minister Imran Khan appoint an ad hoc body to run Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to save the national game.

Celebrated Olympian Manzoorul Hasan, flanked by Rao Saleem Nazim, Tasheedul Hassan, Naveed Alam, Mohammed Usman and internationals Qaiser Iqbal, Major Peerzada and Mukarram Khan, made this demand at a crowded press conference at his residence here on Sunday.

He said that they had been observing the downfall of hockey for last one and a half decades. Pakistan were 8th in 2008 and are now 17th.

“Whenever someone asks me about the plight of hockey I feel ashamed,” Manzoor said. He said PHF needs an honest and dedicated management to uplift the standard of the national game. He said structural changes are badly needed for the promotion and development of hockey and the incumbent PHF management is incompetent to achieve it.

Manzoor reminded that the tenure of Qasim Zia and Asif Bajwa got maximum funds but all were wasted on their ill-conceived ideas. “Where are those 16 hockey academies which were established by Asif Bajwa who had claimed to produce international hockey stars. Those academies only existed in papers,” he said.

Manzoor said he expected the hockey community would hear a good news before their campaign reached Islamabad.

Rao Saleem Nazim said that the Olympians Forum had launched the campaign from Gojra which is internationally known as Olympic Village of Pakistan. “After Muharram we shall hold a press conference in Lahore and one in Islamabad to draw attention of the government and the public,” Saleem Nazim said.

To a question, Naveed, who has been banned for 10 years by Punjab Hockey Association, said that he would not use the Forum for his personal gains and fight against the ban on constitutional grounds.