PHF’s horror show continues

The Under-18 Asia Cup hockey tournament recently concluded in the Chinese city of Dazhou. This event is not held regularly. The junior tournaments routinely organised by the Asian Hockey Federation are the Junior Asia Cup and the Junior AHF Cup. Both are under-21 competitions. The latter includes the lower-ranked teams and serves as the qualifier for the next Men’s Junior Asia Cup.

India, the only Asian country ranked among the world’s top 10, won bronze at the last two Olympics. India didn’t send its team to the Under-18 Asia Cup. South Korea, ranked 3rd in Asia and 13th in the world, was also not there. All this clearly shows it was a minor event.

Pakistan finished second. They easily won matches against minnows: Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. In the last pool match, the 15th-ranked Pakistan faced tough resistance from the 22nd-ranked China, winning 2-1.

Pakistan won the semifinal against Malaysia (12th-ranked) in a shootout after a 3-3 draw. Cometh the final, the Pakistani boys were outclassed by the 18th-ranked Japan, losing 0-3.

Taking into account all the above factors, there is nothing to boast about Pakistan’s performance. But the PHF started blowing its trumpet as is its wont. In a press conference on the 15th of this month, the federation’s secretary Rana Mujahid said, “Look, we reached another final,” referring to Pakistan’s national team’s second position in the FIH Nations Cup in June. The FIH Nations Cup is a second-tier competition featuring the countries ranked outside the top nine. It is a qualification tournament for the FIH Pro League, where the top nine countries compete. Though Pakistan played the final in the Nations Cup, they won just one match during the entire tournament, qualified for the semifinal on goal difference, and won the semifinal in a shootout. They were blown away 6-2 by New Zealand in the final.

As always, there were PHF’s administrative blunders. The players’ and officials’ visas got delayed. The squad reached Dazhou only five hours before the first match. One of the two goalkeepers couldn’t accompany the team because of the visa issue. An outfield player had to be shown as the second goalkeeper in the match sheets. The team management should thank its lucky stars that the lone goalkeeper Ghulam Mustafa remained fit throughout. Otherwise, it would have been catastrophic.

Rana Mujahid talked about the “achievements” of the present setup of the PHF by presenting distorted facts.

“When Tariq Bugti took over as the President of PHF, Pakistan was 18th in the FIH rankings. Now, we have progressed to the 12th.”

Fact: Pakistan was in 16th place when Bugti became the President of the PHF. According to the latest FIH rankings, they are 15th.

“Even at the Asian tournaments, Pakistan had been finishing as low as 8th.”

Fact: Apart from a 6th-place finish at the 2007 Asia Cup, Pakistan has never finished outside the top five in the Asian events.”

One act of the PHF hierarchy is praiseworthy. This time, the President and Secretary of the PHF didn’t accompany the team. They were severely criticised for travelling with the squad on all international assignments. During these joy trips, the duo enjoyed free international travel, hotel stay and a daily allowance of $500.

Tariq Bugti, after assuming the office of the President PHF, had told the media during his first press conference that one of his main objectives is to put on trial the three former Presidents and Secretaries of the PHF, including Rana Mujahid, for financial embezzlement. But Rana Mujahid is now the secretary of the PHF with Bugti as its President. Strange things happen in this part of the world.

The players have been denied even their daily allowances. The captain of Pakistan’s national team Ammad Shakeel Butt has lodged a strong protest on behalf of the players.

We have been hearing for a long time about the PHF’s plan to launch a hockey super league on the pattern of cricket’s PSL. Once again, Rana Mujahid stated in the presser that the plans are afoot.

When a media person asked if sponsors have expressed interest, Rana Mujahid admitted, “No sponsor has approached the PHF. However, we are trying to reach them”.

Ijaz62@hotmail.com

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