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| September 16, 2005 | Friday | Sha'aban 11, 1426 |
Olympian Qamar denies match-fixing allegations
KARACHI, Sept 15: Frontier Falcons Olympian coach Qamar Ibraheem on Thursday denied match-fixing allegations between Capital Dynamos and his team but lashed out at PHF for forming teams without consulting coaches, saying he would not accept such assignment in the future if the practice continued.
“Everybody knows that ours is the weakest outfit of the league. We don’t have a single current Pakistan player in our team. We have players like Rahim Khan and others who have quit hockey ten years ago” he said.
“The six teams are not balanced as they should have been. I will not accept to coach any side if if I am not consulted before forming the team,” former Olympian told post-match press conference.
The coach said he was not aware who formed the teams but added that the apart from Falcons, remaining five teams had current Pakistan players, while India’s Viren Resquina was the only experienced player he had.
Qamar was equally unhappy over the decisions made by the PHF while announcing Player-of-the-Match, saying Amir Shahzad was not once awarded despite sterling performance throughout the league.
“I can’t say why young Amir was never named Player-of-the-Match although he was outstanding in all the matches. I can’t say whether it was bias of the PHF or organizers, but it is a fact that Amir should have been awarded for his fine performance,” he said.
Qamar, however, brushed aside the rumours that his side’s 5-2 victory against Capital Dynamos was fixed. But the coach conceded Dynamos’ loss had surely given advantage to Sindh Qalandars.
“There is no such thing as match-fixing in my book. In fact I was expecting a victory today. Although our side won only one match, we are the team which forced the most penalty corners so far,” he said.
The coach said it was because of “missing” that Falcons could not win their earlier matches, but they availed every opportunity against Dynamos.
Dynamos captain Mudassir Ali Khan ruled out possibility of match-fixing, saying “how can we fix the match as we are the ones who lost points and a possible place in final.”
Instead the skipper attributed the surprise defeat to “complacency”. “The forwards were not that effective today while I am also unwell and running fever.”
Assistant coach of Dynamos Ghulam Ghaus said there was no pressure or instruction from any quarter to throw away the match.
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