KARACHI, March 6: Pakistan hockey administrators on Saturday opted to give a friendly match between two local veterans teams more importance over the visiting Dutch junior side.
While the Dutch under-21 have played three matches of the four-match series at 3.00pm in blistering heat at the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP), a friendly game was played between KESC Veterans and Pakistan Veterans under floodlights.
Although the Dutch coach Eric Verboom had stated intense heat was major disadvantage for his side as they came from the Netherlands where temperature was two or three degree Celsius, the organizers chose to schedule the matches at 3.00pm when the heat is unbearable.
It seems Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has little respect for the visiting teams who come for the international activity.
The roll off time could have been changed from 3.00pm to 5.00pm or it would have been even better had the match between Pakistan and Netherlands juniors were played under lights.
Playing under lights in a cooler atmosphere would have added Dutchmen's ability to perform better. It would have given Pakistan a chance to face bigger resistance, helping them prepare in a better way for the April's Junior Asia Cup at HCP.
