July 4, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 3,1424

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KARACHI, July 3: Former Olympian Anwar Ahmad Khan on Thursday took a swipe at Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for its apathy on the death of his ex-teammate Noor Alam who died couple of days ago.

The celebrated centre-half not only lashed out the PHF, but also lambasted Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for their indifferent attitude towards the former Olympian.

“One of our heroes died and PHF and PSB even did not bother to issue condolences. Even our prime minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, who was a former chief selector, did not say a single word on Noor’s death.

“Not only PHF should have condoled his (Noor’s) death, but I was also expecting few words from Prime Minister who is also the patron-in-chief of the PHF,” he lamented.

While the officials did not deem necessary to take time to pay homage to the former Olympian, Anwar paid tributes to Noor — a member of the side that won the gold at Rome Olympics in 1960.

“The winning goal was scored by Naseer Bunda but the move was initiated by Noor. He fetched glory for country as it was his cross which was connected by Bunda.

“Noor was a gentleman off the field and a belligerent player on the pitch. Many players came before Noor and more will come, but he was the best right-out I have ever seen,” said Anwar who witnessed the glorious moment.

Anwar said Noor was also a part of the squad that won the silver at 1956 Melbourne Olympics, golds at 1958 Tokyo Asian Games and 1962 Jakarta Asiad.

“Our media too does not give the honour and space to courageous and flamboyant players like Noor. But if South African cricket captain (Hansie Cronje) or Don Bradman dies our newspapers go berserk.

“We are interested to know how much Bradman’s baggy cap fetched at an auction. But we are not ready to give the honour to our own players who brought glory to us,” he remarked.