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| July 28, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-us-Sani 20, 1426 |
Senator demands Musarratullah’s resignation
ISLAMABAD, July 27: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Brig (Retd) Musarratullah Khan had a hard time in a meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Sports on Wednesday and faced a volley of tricky questions from the senators.
Musarrat, despite clamour from former hockey greats to quit, tried to defend himself and his federation against charges of “human smuggling” and the continuous decline of the sport that has seen Pakistan not winning any title of significance over a five-year period he has been at the helm.
Senator Muhammad Enver Baig called for his resignation saying he had failed miserably. “He has not been able to perform and should step down.” But Musarrat gave no indication that he was in any mood to quit. Only recently the PHF secretary claimed that there was no instance in country’s hockey history of an official quitting when team failed to win.
The meeting, chaired by Senator Roshan Khursheed Bharucha in the absence of regular chairman Senator Zafar Iqbal Chaudhry, directed Musarrat to submit within seven days a report on the internal probe into visa scam and names of persons facilitated by the PHF in going aboard. Also asked for was a list of measures the federation intends to adopt to rid the sport of gloom in the days ahead.
Admitting that the performance of the team had not been up to the mark Musarrat said the federation had made sincere efforts all along and had provided the best of facilities to the players. “I am as dejected as any Pakistani over the performance of the national side.”
He stressed that the subject of performance should be viewed in totality instead of he being held responsible for what ailed the sport today. “I do not take decisions on my own, these are done collectively.”
“The decline in hockey began in 1984 after the Los Angeles Olympics and although we were able to win the 1994 Champions Trophy and the World Cup in 1994, the slump has continued.”
Musarrat pointed out that there had been “unfortunate” infighting within the PHF the year before he took over in 2000. It was also the first time (1999) that Pakistan were out of the Champions Trophy.
“We only had Rs six lakh in our kitty and the 2000 Olympics were coming up... there was not a single qualified coach and we had only one artificial pitch for holding international competitions in Lahore.”
He said proudly that today Pakistan had three FIH qualified coaches while another 10 to 12 were coming up and there were now 11 artificial pitches for international activity. “We are also managing an expense of Rs five crore each year on sending national teams abroad and holding training camps.”
The PHF’s alleged facilitation of people in obtaining visas was discussed at length with Senator Dr. Murad Ali Shah saying that Capt. Mukhtar Ali’s sacking by the PHF was proof enough that crime had been committed.
While Enver called for the appearance before the committee of Mukhtar, the chairperson decided that the matter be left pending till the PHF chief Tariq Kirmani returned from the United States.
Also coming under fire was the chairman of the selection committee Akhtar Rasool. The objection against him was not regarding selection but as to why he was holding the post despite having been convicted.
Musarrat said that the PHF president was the best person to answer this but reiterated that being the head of selectors was not a public office. This matter too was kept pending by the chairperson.
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