January 31, 2003	Friday	Ziqa’ad 27, 1423

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KARACHI, Jan 30: The ongoing national hockey championship is being ruined by incompetent and negligent technical officials as rules are being blatantly violated.

The breach of rules and regulations are not only expected to rob the players they truly deserve, but it has become almost impossible for the media to report correctly.

For instance, the reporters covering the championship were provided sheets of the Rawalpindi-Karachi `B’ match Thursday, showing Rawalpindi goalkeeper Saleem Ahmad wearing shirt number one.

But the fact was Saleem wore shirt number 26 instead of one. However, when pointed out the violation of rule, the technical officials changed Saleem’s shirt number from one to 26 in the scoresheet after the match.

According to Rawalpindi team manager Mirza Riaz Baig the field jury was intimated about the change a day before the match and even on Thursday when the match was played.

“Yes Saleem played wearing shirt number 26 instead of one, and I had informed the field jury about that today and even a day before the match,” Riaz said.

In the second blunder of the day, the official scoresheet of the Rawalpindi-Karachi `B’ game, did not have the name of the Karachi `B’ scorer who scored the second goal.

Interestingly, the sheet provided to the media was signed by team managers, judges, assistant tournament director, and the umpires.

The players wearing shirts with either faded or illegible numbers have also become source of nuisance for journalists. The violation of rule can deprive the players from the credit they deserve as it increases the chances of error in match reports.