June 27, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-us-Sani 22, 1429

ISLAMABAD, June 26: Former Olympian Asif Bajwa will assume the charge of Secretary, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) from July 1 while outgoing secretary Khalid Mahmood has been elevated to the post of Senior Vice President.

This was announced by the President PHF, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali at the Balochistan House on Thursday. The former premier who held an-hour long meeting with Asif, later informed the media that “for the last many days the controversy was going on about the appointment of secretary of PHF. However, as President of the federation I have asked him to take over as Secretary PHF from July 1.”

The controversy started when Khalid Mahmood, a hockey legend and seasoned official, was abruptly shown the door by the Federal Minister of Sports Najimuddin Khan almost two weeks ago.

Khalid was criticized by various sports circles for being unable to take effective control over the administrative affairs in the PHF ever since his appointment on April 2, 2007.

Asif’s approval as secretary PHF will be endorsed in the PHF congress meeting but the president did not give any time frame for calling the congress meeting.

Jamali further added that there would be no major changes in the current set-up of the PHF. “The current set-up of PHF will remain intact till the Beijing Olympics. Asif is a new addition to the federation set-up and we have seen him in the past as well and hope he will give a good output.”

About the future strategy of the federation, Jamali said: “Our main target is the Beijing Olympics and qualifying for the upcoming Junior Asia Cup men’s hockey tournament, scheduled to be played in Hyderabad, India from July 8-18.

“All our focus is on preparing an excellent hockey squad for the Olympic Games with an eye on the gold medal while our junior hockey team will likely qualify for the junior Asia Cup,” he added.

Commenting on the financial situation of the federation, Jamali disclosed that he had requested the Prime Minister Gilani to issue a grant of Rs. 20 million to meet the expenses of the Olympics.

Furthermore, he specified that the the federation had increased the financial package of the players for the international event from $80 to $100. Khawaja Zakauddin, Jahangir Butt, Naveed Alam were also present in the meeting.