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| April 13, 2003 | Sunday | Safar 10, 1424 |
‘Tahir let down by senior players’
LAHORE, April 12: A top official of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) admitted on Saturday that Shahnaz Sheikh was appointed coach as some senior players were not cooperating with Tahir Zaman.
“Shahnaz was appointed coach as some senior players were not cooperative with Tahir and his deputy Asif Bajwa,” secretary of the PHF, Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan said.
Tahir, who was given the charge of the seniors last year, was demoted after his side’s pathetic performance and now assists Shahnaz.
Under Tahir, Pakistan performed miserably at Manchester Commonwealth Games, Cologne Champions Trophy and Busan Asian Games.
The secretary said victory at Azlan Shah Cup could not be termed as an extraordinary achievement and real task ahead was August’s Champions Trophy and next year’s Athens Olympics.
“We have to learn from the mistakes we committed during the Azlan Shah Cup and should prepare for future assignments,” he said.
Pakistan edged past world champions Germany 1-0 in the final to lift the title in Ipoh, Malaysia, last month.
The official said decision to hire Shahnaz had delivered but it was only the beginning and a lot of work was yet to be done.
PAKISTAN-INDIA SERIES: The chapter of reviving Pakistan-India series had been closed, the secretary said and added the ball was now in India’s court.
The official said the matter had gone beyond the control of the federations of both countries.
“The Indian government is not permitting its federation to play series against Pakistan neither on home and away basis nor at any neutral venue. Pakistan will now only respond if India expresses its wish for the revival of the series,” the secretary said.
India is reluctant to play hockey series with Pakistan due to political tension between the two nations.
Musarrat said PHF offered to play at a neutral venue but the idea did not materialize because of Indian government’s orders.
FIH MEETING: The secretary, who attended the International Hockey Federation (FIH) meeting in Athens, Greece, from April 4 to 6, said the FIH would be title sponsors of all its events in future. FIH already has TV rights of all the international events.
The official said FIH had signed a sponsorship deal with two multi-national companies in this regard. He said FIH would pay only Euros 40,000 to the host country.
He said PHF raised an objection against a meagre amount and demanded to set the amount according to the economic situation of the host country.
The secretary said Pakistan had financial difficulties as compared to developed countries like South Korea, Japan and the European nations.
“FIH was convinced and decided that after getting two more sponsors for the title sponsorship, the amount will be decided on the basis of the hosts’ economic status,” he added.
He said PHF had raised Rs30 million through sponsorship for organizing the Champions Trophy in 2001, which was shifted to the Netherlands after participants refused to play in Pakistan because of security reasons following Sept 11 terrorist attacks on the US.
He said PHF, which had received Euros 10,000 from FIH development funds in 2001 and 2002, would get the same amount in 2003, as the FIH was satisfied with the development activities of the federation.
PHYSICAL TRAINER: The secretary said negotiations were under way to finalize the tour of Malaysian team to Pakistan.
PHF was also likely to hire a physical trainer from South Korea and the South Korean federation had been contacted in this regard, the official said.
“The Korean trainers have excellent record which prompted PHF to hire a trainer from South Korea. However, a final decision will be taken later,” he said.
TRAINING CAMPS: The secretary said training camp for the two four-nation tournaments in Australia, would be held here at National Hockey Stadium from April 28.
He said 35 probables would be called including the former skipper Mohammad Sarwar who did not report for Azlan Shah Cup camp because of his domestic problems.
According to chief selector, Akhtar Rasool, Sarwar would not have been considered as he failed to impress during this year’s national championship.
Trials to select the team for May 28-June 2 tournament in Perth and June 4-8 contest in Sydney may be held on May 12 and 13.
The secretary said training camp for the juniors would be held in Karachi in the first week of June for the tour of Spain and Poland in July-August. The Juniors depart for Spain on July 20. In all, the team will play 20 matches in Spain and Poland.
The Under-16 training camp would also be held in Karachi from May 2. The boys have been selected after watching the inter-provincial championship in Peshawar earlier this year.
The secretary said Sindh and Balochistan, who did not participate in the championship, had selected their probables raising the number of probables to 60. PHF had already selected 36 probables from Punjab and NWFP.
“The camp would be a short exercise only to check the talent of the youngsters,” he said.
The secretary said he could not guarantee the World Cup Junior qualifying round in March next year would not be shifted from Lahore due to security concerns.
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