March 30, 2002	Saturday	Muharram 15, 1423

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LAHORE, March 29: The cash-strapped Punjab Hockey Association (PHA) has received yet another blow after it was deprived by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) of its due share to organize the ongoing national championship.

A PHA official, requesting anonymity, told Dawn, the association, having empty coffers, is organizing the prestigious tournament after arranging a Rs300,000 loan from PHA president.

The official claimed despite having an amount of Rs one million generated through sponsorships, the PHF has not offered a single penny to the association for the championship.

Not only the PHF has accumulated huge sum from the sponsors, the federation’s marketing department is still being approached by more financers.

The PHA, facing financial constraints, is still waiting to get some monetary assistance from the PHF to meet the expenditures of the championship.

It is the first time that the national championship, the most premier event of the sport, is being organized without the monetary help of the PHF which always used to extend a helping hand whenever the contest was organized.

According to the PHA official, the association has already taken a loan of Rs50,000 to send its two outfits to Karachi for the inter-provincial preliminary round organized earlier this month.

The PHA used to earn hefty amount through sponsorships organizing the tournaments without any interference from the PHF.