PHF still counting on Oltmans to achieve Olympic miracle
By Shazad Ali
KARACHI, July 20: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Tuesday said coach Roelant Oltmans had ample time to deliver at the Athens Olympics, contradicting Dutchman's statement in which he described short time for preparations as the biggest enemy.
"Of course he (Oltmans) has enough time to deliver at the Olympics and I think he is capable of doing that. A lot of things could happen in nine months," PHF president Gen Aziz Khan told Dawn at the Hockey Club of Pakistan.
The PHF chief reacted when asked if it was the right time to hire a new coach and that too a foreigner, barely nine months ahead of the next month's Athens Games - the biggest sporting extravaganza.
His statement was surprising since the coach had twice said that although he would try to give his best, it would not be the opponents who would be the biggest challenge but the short time he had for forming a match-winning combination.
"I have said and will repeat short time is the biggest enemy for us as I took the charge of the Pakistan side barely eight months ago," Oltmans had told Dawn last Friday.
Oltmans, who took over the charge last December, was appointed after Abdul Rashid Jr quit, blaming the PHF secretary Musarrat Ullah Khan for damaging the sport in the country.
Gen Aziz defended the decision to dump centre-half Mohammad Saqlain, saying the player deserved it because of indiscipline. He denied the midfielder was ousted at the eleventh hour and shortly before the team's departure for one-month European tour which was part of Olympic build-up.
"Saqlain was not ousted at the eleventh hour. He was a good player and had room in the team, but he had discipline problems. He was continuously involved in indiscipline despite being warned. Indiscipline could not be tolerated," the PHF president said.
Surprisingly, he said that the decision to axe Saqlain from the squad was not taken by Oltmans but the selection committee. "Selection committee was intimated about Saqlain's case to keep it abreast of the latest development and to help them finalize the final line-up for the future assignment," he said when asked who was responsible for such matters, the PHF disciplinary committee or selectors.
The PHF official parried the question when asked why action against Saqlain was not taken earlier as PHF secretary had stated that the discipline problem had been there for several years.
Interestingly, Oltmans had claimed that Saqlain's ouster was purely his decision and he did not want to discuss the matter anymore since it was between him and the player.
The PHF chief was asked why did the PHF opt to show Saqlain the door and did not review its decision in the national interest while Sohail Abbas and Waseem Ahmad were pardoned, although the pair went to Germany to play the league despite being asked by the PHF to stay on.
"It was a different case. Sohail and Waseem were not involved in such indiscipline as Saqlain was. That's why they were selected in the squad," he said. Sohail and Waseem had escaped punishment and were asked to pay a meagre Rs100,000 as penalty before being inducted in the Champions Trophy squad last August, saying it was being done in the national interest.
Ironically, former manager Rashid Jr's demand for action against full-back Tariq Imran was not accepted by the PHF as it invited him for last year's Asia Cup camp, although the defender was allegedly involved in misconduct.
Tariq had vanished from last year's Champions Trophy camp in Karachi without seeking permission or even intimating the team management soon after the PHF excluded him from the squad. The full-back also went to Hyderabad, India, as a member of the squad for Afro-Asian Games after Rashid stepped down.
