June 18, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 13, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 17: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali has brushed aside the rumours that he is resigning from his post.

“I will not resign from the PHF presidency,” Jamali said here on Tuesday.

The PHF president said he was amazed to hear the rumours aired by some TV channels that he would soon tender his resignation after developing differences over the decision of appointing Asif Bajwa as the PHF secretary.

Jamali maintained that it was a clear violation of the PHF constitution regarding appointing a secretary without the approval of the president while only the prime minister of Pakistan has the power to remove the secretary and appoint a new one.

Khalid Mahmood had been removed by Minister for Sports Najimuddin Khan on Monday, who is also the president of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

The PSB president appointed Asif Bajwa as PHF honorary secretary on ad hoc basis till further orders.

Jamali added that Khalid Mahmood was still the secretary of the PHF and he asked Khalid not to give the charge of the PHF secretaryship to Asif Bajwa.

The PHF president said he had met the prime minister some two months ago and the premier had given him a green signal to continue with the PHF job.

Jamali, the former prime minister of the country, said he has come to Islamabad to meet the prime minister, also the Patron-in-Chief of the PHF, to raise the issue of Khalid Mahmood’s sacking.

Being critical to the government’s sudden move, Jamali said the government always made sheer mess whenever there was an important international fixture, like the Olympics, ahead.

The PHF president said the current move would affect the performance of the team in the Beijing Olympics, starting from Aug 8, while citing the example of 1996 Olympics when major changes had been made before the event and Pakistan secured 11th position.