February 21, 2008	Thursday	Safar 13, 1429

LAHORE, Feb 20: Olympian Waseem Ahmad has conveyed his non-availability for the national training camp starting here from Thursday at the National Hockey Stadium (NHS).

The camp is being set up as part of the preparations for the forthcoming Beijing Olympics. The national team would also be playing in a number of tournaments before participating in the Games in August.

Dawn learnt on Wednesday that Waseem had informed chief coach Khawaja Zakauddin about his non-availability till May and the senior official had reacted by telling the player that he will not be required at that time.

Waseem, who has made headlines on many an occasion in the past too for declining the call for national duty to play in the European leagues, was selected in the 37 probables for the training camp after showing his fitness in the recently-concluded National Championship.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Saqlain, another controversial figure in Pakistan hockey, has reported to the camp commandant.

Another problem faced by the PHF is the lacklustre attitude of the Punjab Sports Board authorities. Since the stadium’s main ground is not yet ready for holding the camp, it has had to shift it to ground number two.

Although work on laying a new Astroturf at the NHS began at a fast pace in 2006, it has lost momentum since the abrupt shifting of the Dec 2007 Champions Trophy from Lahore to Kuala Lumpur.

And even though the Punjab Sports Board installed floodlights at the stadium well before December, it has failed to complete the construction work on the new hostel at the NHS.