Pakistan hockey is in quite a muddled state right now. A few days ago, they had travelled to Australia for the Hockey World League. However, they were forced to wait on the roads in Canberra and roam on the streets, as the hotel cancelled their reservations for not paying their hotel bills. This caused quite a furore in Pakistan, and even the captain and the team had lashed out at the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and their chief as well. It was also revealed that the Pakistan players and coaches had to even wash dishes and clothes. Another massive discrepancy by the PHF has now come to the fore.
According to a report by PTI, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had 10 million rupees to the PHF for five-star hotel accommodation. However, the team had to spend the entire tour in Australia in AirBnbs.
Pakistan hockey captain Ahmed Shakeel Butt was suspended for by former PHF president Tariq Bugti for speaking out against the actions of the PHF and the trouble the team had to face in Australia. However, this was the last decision before he was forced to resign from his post. He has now been replaced by Muhuydin Ahmed Wan, an appointment that was personally done by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is the patron-in-chief of the PHF.
In fact, Wan called this move an "illegal and unconstitutional step", and the Pakistan government later immediately revoked the suspension placed on the skipper.
PCB president Mohsin Naqvi, who is also the interior minister of Pakistan, met the players and assured full cooperation to “streamline matters of hockey” and issued orders to arrange tickets, kits, and hotels for Hockey World Cup qualifiers in Egypt.
"Pakistan's honour comes first. We will not let the dignity of this nation be compromised under any circumstances," PCB quoted Naqvi as saying.
Naqvi directed to organise a training camp for the World Cup qualifiers from Saturday and ordered to get all arrangements done by Friday. He also told PCB to get the injured hockey players treated immediately, and handed a cheque of 1 million to each player
Shaunak Ghosh is a Senior Sports Correspondent at Timesnownews with over seven years of experience in print and digital journalism. He holds a postgra...View More
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