THE 13th edition of the Hockey World Cup which commenced at The Hague on Saturday promises to be an exciting event with 12 leading teams of the world competing. Unfortunately, conspicuous by their absence in the prestigious tournament are Asian giants Pakistan who have, for the first time, failed to qualify for the World Cup. The greenshirts, who were required to finish among the top three teams in last year’s Champions League — which also served as World Cup qualifiers — failed to do so and had to stay out of the mega event. For a nation that so brilliantly dominated world hockey for over three decades, spanning the period from the 1960s to the 1990s, and that produced dozens of legendary players, the disqualification is a new low. It hurts even more when one is reminded that it was Pakistan that introduced the World Cup to the game some four decades ago and won the coveted title no less than four times.

However, both critics and keen followers of the game believe that the writing has been on the wall ever since our players finished last among 12 teams in the previous World Cup held in New Delhi four years ago. The causes of the decline of Pakistan hockey are too obvious to merit a deep analysis. They are very similar to those responsible for the downward trajectory our cricketers have been following of late, and result from ad hoc policies and political interference. The Pakistan Hockey Federation president Akhtar Rasool, a former centre-half, is reaping political dividends as a PML-N activist while his predecessor Qasim Zia, also an ex-Olympian, served as a PPP leader and was given the PHF post by the previous regime. How far improvement of the game in Pakistan has figured in their list of priorities is anyone’s guess. Besides, the incentives for our youth to take up the sport today are few while the lack of infrastructure and academies continues to hamper a meaningful revival of the game.

Published in Dawn, June 2nd, 2014