August 28, 2008	Thursday	Sha'aban 25, 1429

LAHORE, Aug 27: Pakistan hockey coach Naveed Alam has stepped down in the wake of team’s poor performance at the Beijing Olympics.

“I take full responsibility for the team’s failure and I am sorry for its dismal show at the mega event,” he told reporters at a news conference here on Wednesday.

Naveed said he was not going to blame anyone or the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) but himself for the team’s debacle where it failed right from the start after losing to Great Britain.

“We were not looking forward to that kind of poor start and then onwards things turned from bad to worse and we could not come out of the problems eventually finishing at a low position for which the team management takes full responsibility,” he asserted.

Pakistan faced defeats against Great Britain, Australia, Germany, and New Zealand, and won two matches against low-ranked Canada and South Africa.

“We have been preparing for the Olympics for the last six months but chronicle problems of lack of physical fitness let the team down,” he commented.

Naveed who managed the team for six months till the Olympics said the team did not get a fair deal at the hands of technical officials in the Olympics where Pakistan players were heavily penalised for minor mistakes or offenses and on the other hand the European and other teams were dealt leniently.

“Our players were shown yellow cards frequently and when we lodged protests to the technical director, nothing was done to address our complaints. It showed biased attitude towards Pakistan,” he said.

“It was a short stint with the team and I along with chief coach Khawaja Zakauddin did our best to lift the performance of the team but unfortunately the time given to us to prepare for Olympics was not enough,” he said.

He urged the PHF to have maximum representation in the game’s ruling body (FIH) to safeguard the interest of Pakistan and to ensure that it was treated at par with other participating teams.

He suggested that the senior players should be given rest for some time.

“It will not be wise to axe all the senior members because they would be a support to junior players,” he said.

Naveed opposed the idea of hiring a foreign coach and said that did not yield desired results in the past.

“We have many talented former Olympians who are capable of reviving the sagging fortunes of our game,” he said, adding that hiring a foreign coach would cost the PHF a lot, which was not financially sound.

He said he was leaving with lasting memories and his services were always available for the country.—APP