November 07, 2006	Tuesday	Shawwal 14, 1427

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KARACHI, Nov 6: Following the debacle at the World Cup, Pakistan announced a new-look 16-man hockey squad for the Doha Asian Games on Monday, vowing that group of five undisciplined players, including Mohammad Saqlain and Sohail Abbas is now history.

“The five players went to play in leagues abroad. They had option to join Pakistan training camp or play in leagues and they chose to play in leagues. Since now they have left us, we will never consider them in future. They will never be in team at least until I am at the helm,” president of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Zafarullah Jamali told a press conference.

Apart from controversial midfielder Saqlain and penalty corner specialist Sohail, Waseem Ahmad, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain, also went to play in leagues on lucrative terms despite being invited for the Asian Games camp by the PHF.

The players were even given an option to report even a day before the end of the first phase of the camp from Oct 10 to 20 in Islamabad. They, however, ignored PHF calls didn’t report during the final phase of the camp which started on Nov 1 in Karachi. Asian Games will be hosted by the Qatar capital of Doha from Dec 1 to 15.

Saqlain has a history of misconduct and was dropped from 2000 Sydney Olympics squad for misconduct. He was axed from 2004 Athens Games side by coach Roelant Oltmans for hitting team-mate Adnan Maqsood before being suspended for one match for injuring a South Korean player during Azlan Shah Cup last year.

The centre-half was suspended for three matches by International Hockey Federation (FIH) for hitting Australia’s Victory Craig at last year’s Hamburg Masters.

As for Sohail and Waseem, both are habitual violators of code of conduct and had skipped an Australian tour few years ago, preferring to play in the German league.

Team manager-cum-coach Shahnaz Sheikh has recently opined the group of five should never be considered in future. Manzoorul Hassan, who acted as makeshift camp commandant during Shahnaz’s absence in first phase of the camp, had also said five players were history.

Interestingly, PHF secretary Akhtarul Islam has reportedly said that five players would be considered for future assignments.

The squad, which includes uncapped forward Rashid Imran, will be led by striker Rehan Butt who replaces Saqlain as captain, while Shakeel Abbasi will be his deputy.

Tariq Aziz has also made a comeback after a six-month suspension for misconduct at Melbourne Commonwealth Games earlier this year.

Jamali was far from convincing when asked what criteria was applied while appointing the new captain, especially since full-back Zeeshan Ashraf and goalkeeper Salman Akbar were senior players.

“We considered the ability of the players and leadership qualities while appointing captain and vice-captain. Besides, media had already approved Rehan as the captain before the announcement of the squad,” said PHF president.

The squad will be without Adnan Zakir, Akhtar Ali and Waqas Akbar, all of whom represented the country at the World Cup in Germany two months ago where Pakistan finished a poor sixth under Shahnaz.

Adnan faced fitness problem at the World Cup and Shahnaz even consulted South Africa team physiotherapist who opined that the striker had a foot problem.

“Adnan has flat foot and wears a special boot to counter the problem. But that is not the solution to the problem as it places enormous burden on his calf muscles,” says Shahnaz.

Asked why Manzoor Hussain had been replaced by an old and close friend Jahangir Butt as the junior team coach, Jamali had no satisfactory reply.

“I have free time to work so has Khalid Mahmood (chief selector) and Jahangir which is why he has been appointed coach,” Jamali said jokingly without giving an appropriate reason for Manzoor’s sacking.

The PHF chief said he would soon resolve the Karachi Hockey Association (KHA) dispute since both groups had promised they would accept his decision.

A case filed by a group led by Gulfaraz Ahmad against PHF including its secretary Akhtar is pending in court which has temporarily refrained PHF from interfering into KHA affairs. Gulfaraz-group is at loggerheads with a panel led by Aijazuddin over the KHA elections.

The panel led by Gulfaraz has been elected unopposed earlier this year but the rival group is discontent and wants control over city’s hockey affairs.

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmad.

Full-backs: Imran Warsi, Ihsanullah, Zeeshan Ashraf.

Half-backs: Imran Khan, Adnan Maqsood, Sajjad Anwar, Mohammad Imran.

Forwards: Rehan Butt (captain), Rashid Imran, Shakeel Abbasi (vice-captain), Tariq Aziz, Mohammad Zubair, Waqas Sharif, Mudassir Khan.

Standbyes:

Farhan, Mohammad Ateeq (goalkeepers), Kashif Ali (full-back), Zaheer, M. Javed, Rana Asif (half-backs), Ishtiaq, Haseem Khan, Mustansar Sheikh, Kashif Yaqoob (forwards).

Officials: Shahnaz Sheikh (manager-cum-coach), Nasir Ali (associate manager), Dr Faizur Rahman (doctor), Lodhi (video analyst).