STILL awaiting the nod from the General Council, former Olympian Asif Bajwa, who has succeeded Shahbaz Ahmed Sr as Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary at the behest of PHF chief retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, has started deliberations with former stalwarts of the game to get their opinions for rescuing the game.

In the first step, he met strong critic and 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medal winning team captain Manzoor Hussain Jr and another ex- Olympian Khawaja Junaid in Lahore the other day. In the next stage he has arrived in Karachi on Thursday evening to carry forward his mission. Bajwa called on former Olympian Hanif Khan at his residence on Friday to seek his support at the national and local level. Secretary KHA Syed Haider Hussain was also present in the meeting. It a move that seems aimed at gaining favour.

The hockey fraternity, which has been raising its voice on Pakistan team’s slump, alleged corruption of funds by the PHF hierarchy and their ouster have not digested the modus operandi adopted in appointment of Bajwa in the same capacity for the second time and giving a safe passage to his predecessor.

Critics have been pointing fingers at Bajwa for his alleged involvement in human smuggling during his first tenure (2008-2013) besides pending cases. It isn’t the change they have been demanding since long. “It’s surprising that the PHF chief couldn’t find someone except Bajwa,” they said.The latest concern is that the FIH has not included Pakistan among the teams for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic qualifiers. It comes after both Khokhar and Bajwa were at the receiving end and grilled during the National Assembly Standing Committee meeting for Inter-provincial Coordination (IPC) on May 17 at Islamabad.

Parliamentarian Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan has demanded of the government to impose an adhoc on the PHF and appoint a non-controversial person as its head with the task to set the house in order.

“How can Bajwa call him secretary PHF when he has not yet get the consent of the General Council,” he questioned. He termed it unconstitutional act and demanded that the forensic audit report of the PHF accounts should be made public. He called upon the prime minister, who is also patron of the PHF, to come forward and intervene in the larger national interest.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2019