May 29, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 23, 1429

KARACHI, May 28: After being banned by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for repeatedly ditching the national team in pursuit of green bucks abroad, former Pakistan hockey star Sohail Abbas has now also been sacked by his department SSGC for remaining absent without leave.

The penalty corner exponent has been booted out by the department for violating company rules and remaining absent without intimation and completing formalities before proceeding abroad.

“Sohail was not a contractual employee. He was a full-time SSGC officer and an assistant manager. He left the country without our knowledge to play league in the Netherlands and being his officer in-charge, it was my obligation to inform the human resources within three days of his absence without permission,” secretary of SSGC Sports Board Zubair Ahmed told Dawn on Wednesday.

“He didn’t turn up and we had no option except terminating his services.”

The official said the company took action against Sohail after completing all the formalities and sent him a show cause notice but in vain.

“We asked him to explain about his absence and sent notices which were not received. He never turned up and it was then that we decided to dismiss him from the service when we didn’t hear a word from him.”

The official claimed he personally tried to persuade the player to return or at least inform the company about his plans, but Sohail didn’t pay any heed.

“He once called me from the Netherlands. I tried to convince him to return but he didn’t express any desire to do so. It has now been almost six or seven months that Sohail is absent without ex-Pakistan leave.

“Usually, an officer has to apply for leave which is to be approved by the concerned department before the issuance of No Objection Certificate. But he [Sohail] blatantly violated all the rules and regulations of the company.”

The official, however, didn’t agree that SSGC had stopped pampering the disgraced star since now he was a spent force and no more required by the PHF big wigs.

Sohail, who rose as a brilliant star on world hockey horizon several years ago, later degenerated into a fallen hero chiefly because he ditched the Pakistan team and preferred lucrative league assignments over national duty.

In his rollercoaster career, he first made headlines for the wrong reasons some five years ago when he, along with team-mate Waseem Ahmad, opted to play the league abroad while skipping back-to-back four-nation tournaments in Australia. Both the players later tendered apologies and were included in the Champions Trophy squad by then PHF President Gen Aziz Khan and secretary Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan after paying a fine of Rs100,000.

But Sohail and Waseem abruptly ended their international careers soon after 2004 Champions Trophy in Lahore, saying they wanted to pave way for youngsters but would be available for major events in future. Furious over their “retirements”, PHF ordered them time and again to report to the national camps but ate humble pie after being snubbed by the two players.

In a bid to keep their contracts with foreign clubs intact, the pair, however rejoined the squad to represent Pakistan at the 2006 Champions Trophy and the World Cup in Monchengladbach, Germany only to leave Pakistan in the lurch once again.

In December 2006, PHF president Zafarullah Jamali banned them along with controversial centre-half Mohammad Saqlain, half-back Ghanzafar Ali and defender Dilawar Hussain for preferring to play in foreign leagues rather than reporting at Doha Asian Games camp.

Astonishingly, Jamali back-peddled and reversed his decision, calling all the undisciplined players with the exception of Saqlain back for the national duty. Ghazanfar and Dilawar reported but Sohail and Waseem again opted to stay away.

Interestingly, the temperamental Saqlain was also called up later on and is currently a part of the team while Jamali recently made it clear that Sohail was history and would never be considered for disgracing the national colours.