ISLAMABAD, July 1: Pakistan hockey lay in crisis on Tuesday on the eve of the Champions Trophy after team manager Shahnaz Shaikh announced he was quitting.

“I am resigning because of pressing personal commitments and the allegations that have been levelled against me by Wapda,” Shahnaz told Dawn from his hometown of Sialkot.

His resignation, dispatched to the president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), Gen Muhammad Aziz, has been accepted, the federation’s secretary Brig Musarratullah Khan confirmed.

Shahnaz was under a cloud ever since returning from Australia last month where his side finished fourth in two four-team tournaments in which he did not have three of his key players. The trio of Muhammad Nadeem, Muhammad Waseem and Sohail Abbas chose to play league hockey in Germany without seeking permission from the PHF.

This led Wapda to accuse Shahnaz that two of their players Waseem and Sohail were incited by him to play abroad. The manager threatened to sue the organisation for what he said were baseless allegations.

Amidst this chaos, there were indications that the PHF was on the verge of showing Shahnaz the door anyway with Musarratullah saying that “it was better to rectify a situation when there are clear indicators,” meaning that all was not well with the team management.

Musarrat would not say who was next in line to replace Shahnaz but added that a decision was expected on Thursday. “I will be meeting president Gen Aziz on Wednesday to discuss the matter and a formal announcement would be made the following day.”

But as always, the PHF continued to act smart with Musarrat pointing out that they had wanted a management that would serve for a long period. Shahnaz was in charge for just seven months. He took over, first as coach in November last year before being made the manager prior to last month’s Australia tour.

Pakistan under him, appeared to have taken a big step forward when they won the Azlan Shah Tournament in Malaysia last March where they beat world champions Germany in the final. But as in life, things do not always go according to plan in hockey also.

Shahnaz wanted to build the team’s morale ahead of the Champions Trophy but back-to-back defeats Down Under turned everything upside down. The losses however seemed to make the PHF’s task of executing their ‘plans’ all the more easier. Shahnaz could sense foul play and therefore was mentally prepared to step down.

He said he had no regrets and that he did his best in the short time he was in charge. “We won the Azlan Shah Cup, which was a major achievement but we suffered defeats in Australia because I had new players who of course need time before they start clicking.”

Shahnaz’s resignation comes at a time when the Champions Trophy in the Netherlands is looming and the Olympics are coming up next year. Instead of having had everything in place by now, Pakistan hockey finds itself dealing with yet another crisis.

Our Sports Correspondent adds from Lahore: Shahnaz said that he was ready to appear before any disciplinary committee of the PHF  but not any from Wapda.

“Wapda and I are both parties in the case of indiscipline, then how can Wapda conduct the same inquiry. I am ready to appear before any disciplinary committee of the federation, but not before Wapda,” he remarked and added, “appointing Wapda to conduct the inquiry is similar to like having a thief as a judge.”

Shahnaz said that in the prevailing situation  he  could  not achieve good results in the Champions Trophy and that’s why he has decided  to quit.

The ex-Olympian said that he wanted to clear himself from the allegations of Wapda’s players. “How I can prepare the team  for the world’s toughest competition while also facing an inquiry. The two players can also be under pressure in my presence as manager. But now I can meet the players openly in the inquiry if conducted by the PHF.”

Shahnaz added that he sent two letters to the PHF, one was his resignation and the other in which he had stated the reasons behind his departure.

Shahnaz belied the impression that he opted to resign after receiving information that the federation would sack him. “PHF can’t sack me as manager of the team, because I won the Azlan Shah Cup as coach and took an inexperienced squad to Australia. There was possibility of my appointment as chief coach of the team instead of sacking.”

Musarrat, meanwhile, parried the question when asked if the PHF’s decision to hand over the inquiry to Wapda was the reason behind Shahnaz’s resignation, he said that every person had his own views on each subject.

When asked why the PHF asked Wapda to conduct the inquiry when the organisation itself was a party between the players and  Shahnaz, the PHF official said that the finding of that inquiry could not  be the final authority and if the federation was not satisfied with the inquiry it would hold another inquiry by itself.

Musarrat admitted, however, that Wapda did make a mistake by issuing NOC to its players to play league hockey with the condition “subject to approval of the PHF”.

Mussarat conceded that the three players sought permission from him. “Yes, they came to me to seek permission but at that time they had  signed their contract with their clubs in Germany and came to me just to inform the federation and that was not the right way to ask for permission.”