April 11, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1429

KARACHI, April 10: In a bid to maintain discipline, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) chief on Thursday said he would investigate the selection row which was triggered by a fiery press statement from chief selector Islahuddin Siddiqui last week.

“I will talk to (Khawaja) Zaka and Islah on the selection issue and then I will announce the outcome,” Zafarullah Jamali told reporters at the Hockey Club of Pakistan when he was asked what action he would suggest against chairman selection committee since he had emphasised on maintaining discipline within the PHF.

Earlier, the former prime minister had unequivocally announced during the PHF Council meeting that since the federation was a family, he would not tolerate indiscipline or breach of code of conduct from any quarter and that action would be taken in case of violation.

Islah vented his anger through press statements, reacting over the announcement of the probables by PHF for the forthcoming Azlan Shah Cup training camp. The former Pakistan captain was furious on what he believed was a bypass of his “authority” by the PHF as the probables were named without his consultation.

Team manager-cum-chief coach Khawaja Zakauddin had later clarified that since the list of probables had already been provided by the selectors after watching the national championship, there was no need of a fresh list as it had been a practice in the PHF since long.

Islah, after being authorised by Jamali, submitted names of some additional players after consulting his fellow selectors to the PHF including Ehthesham and Imran Warsi.

Jamali also disagreed when asked whether the decision to discard the first list of probables announced by secretary Khalid Mahmood suggested the official didn’t enjoy enough powers “No it is not like that. Khalid being the secretary has full powers and has my support and it is a wrong impression created by few people. It is just a notion that he doesn’t have powers and authority,” said PHF president.

The PHF chief was, however, a bit diplomatic when asked was he satisfied with the selection being made for both, senior and junior outfits. “It is a matter of trust. In this case it is just trust and when there is a team working with you, then you have to trust its members,” said Jamali.

A number of deserving players are being left out by the selectors while lesser known underachievers are being drafted into the seniors squad while some overaged players have found way into the junior side.

Jamali said while the present senior team officials would continue till Beijing Olympics, their fate would be decided later. “We will evaluate the performance and then decide after the Olympics whether the current team officials should continue or not.”