LAHORE: Former Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary retired Col Mudassar Asghar expressed his surprise over the press statement of incumbent PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Senior who criticized the performance of the Pakistan team in the recently-concluded World Hockey League in London.

“It is very surprising for me that the secretary instead of taking responsibility of the team’s poor showing is blaming players,” Mudassar said.

“Look, as PHF secretary and president Shahbaz and retired Brig Sajjad Khokhar, respectively, took decisions of appointing the selection committee, head coach and other team officials. Now both should be held to account for the team’s poor showing,” maintained the former PHF secretary.

“How Shahbaz as PHF secretary could even say that he is not happy with the performance, for he is the one who has made everyone unhappy,” remarked Mudassar.

“Instead of answering the nation over the team’s pathetic showing, he has set out to shout at the national team,” he added.

The Pakistan team was rising when the incumbent PHF set-up took charge in 2015 because they had played the Champions Trophy final in India and had also defeated India in the semi-finals, but, he added, the team faced decline during the tenure of current PHF set-up.

“The performance of the national team during the last almost two years, instead of being on the rise, has declined for which the PHF and its officials are responsible,” the ex-secretary of the PHF maintained.

“I will request the prime minister to have a look at the affairs of hockey as the situation has become more alarming,” Mudassar said.

He also criticized the PHF for taking the decision of not sending the team to the Champions Trophy on the special invitation of the FIH.

“Instead of giving international exposure to the players through toughest events like Champions Trophy, the PHF took a wrong decision of keeping players away from it. “The team was not sent at the pretext of preparing players for big events but the recent poor showing speaks volumes about their preparation,” he said.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2017