LAHORE: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has condemned the stealing of ball and hockey-stick from the statue of legendary Olympian Samiullah installed at a chowk of his native city Bahawalpur.

In a press statement, PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said that Samiullah is a national hero, and every citizen of the country is responsible to safeguard his statute.

Asif said the PHF would send new hockey-stick and ball for the statue and appealed to the people of Bahawalpur to protect it from the people having evil designs.

He said national heroes are the assets of the nation and everyone was duty bound to keep their respect high.Samiullah was also included in the Hall of Fame of the PHF and he was a member of World Cup gold medalist teams in 1978 and 1982, besides bronze medals earned in 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Published in Dawn, July 20th, 2021