September 18, 2008	Thursday	Ramazan 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Sept 17: Federal Minister for Sports Najamuddin Khan said here on Wednesday that Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali should have resigned after national team’s worst ever show at the Beijing Olympics last month.

Talking to the reporters after the inauguration of media office for the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Sports Journalist Association at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Najamuddin said: “The nation was utterly disappointed after the dismal hockey show by the green shirts at the Beijing Olympics and the top PHF officials must accept the blame for it.”

“Hockey doesn’t belong to Mr Jamali. It is our national game and the team’s performance is worst ever which will not be tolerated,” added the minister.

Jamali had apologized to the nation for the Beijing Olympics debacle last week while the team management comprising Coach-cum-manager Zakauddin, coach Naveed Alam alongwith Chief Selector Islahuddin and other members have already quit their posts.

“The standard of the national game is declining. It is often claimed that the game’s development measures will be in place soon but they are nowhere on the ground.”

Regarding the three-member hockey probe committee to investigate Olympic debacle, the minister said: “We have constituted the probe committee and after they come up with the findings, strong action will be taken against those responsible for the poor performance.”

The Federal Sports Ministry has constituted a three-member committee to investigate the reasons and causes responsible for the national hockey team’s poor performance at the recently concluded Beijing Olympics.

The committee will be headed by member National Assembly (MNA) Rana Farooq Saeed along with Olympians Shahbaz Ahmed (Sr) and Abdul Waheed.

Sports minister further said that a stern action had been taken against the sports federations who violated the national sports policy and the ministry will keep on working for the betterment of sports in the country.