LAHORE: Lamenting the poor sports system that does not recognise and promote merit and hard work in Pakistan, newly elected president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Tayyab Ikram on Wednesday said determination and dedication enabled him to reach the top position in world hockey.

“I started my journey from Lahore and I am proud that I was in Lahore when I was elected as president of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The journey was not easy but determination, dedication and hard work made it all possible,” Tayyab said during a function organised in his honour by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) here on Wednesday.

It may be mentioned that when the FIH announced Tayyab as its new president, many in Pakistan did not know the man was from

Tayyab, the Asian Hockey Federation chief executive, obtained 79 votes to beat Belgium’s Marc Coudron, who polled 47 votes, during a virtual FIH Congress held earlier this month.

Interestingly, Tayyab, who worked for a number of sports disciplines in Pakistan as physio — volleyball, athletics, wrestling, weightlifting but earned more success from other countries compared to Pakistan — once joined Macau’s hockey team as coach.

“In my own country there was no place for me. I am saying with honesty that neither the country’s system accepted me nor I have those things in me to accept this [system]. So I found a different path, but whenever I got the moment to serve for Pakistan’s success those were golden moments for me,” Tayyab said, telling between the lines how difficult the system in Pakistan is for those who want to serve it.

Elaborating on an example of Pakistan’s extremely managed sports system, he recalled that as physio when he had to work for three days in Lahore with then chief minister Nawaz Sharif as physical instructor, and four days in Islamabad at the South Asian Games training camp, one day he met Pakistan’s promising athlete Ghulam Abbas at Islamabad airport.

“Abbas was a probable for the South Asian Games athletics [400m hurdles race] training camp but the organisers had excluded him from the camp as he had developed an injury. When I came to know this, I asked Abbas to remain in the camp as my patient. Taking the initiative, I fought against dirty politics and finally Abbas was ready for the competition after recovering, and earned gold medals both in the SAF and Asian Games,” Tayyab said.

He also recalled how he toiled to include Pakistan in the inaugural FIH Pro-League in 2019 which was the platform from where Pakistan could qualify for the Tokyo Olympics.

“But I was extremely disappointed when the PHF squandered this opportunity by not playing a single match and [as a result] Pakistan descended in international [hockey] rankings.”

He continued, “When I came to know there is no coaching refer system in the FIH I worked for it, prepared myself and became the first coaching director of the FIH in 1999.”

“The first man who congratulated me [on becoming FIH president] was IOC president Thomas Bach. He invited me to meet him in Lausanne but I said my first priority is to be present to watch the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup [in Malaysia],” he said.

Apart from hockey, Tayyab said, he also played and organised volleyball events under the incumbent Pakistan Volleyball Federation president Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob, who was also present on the occasion alongside hockey stalwarts Manzoor-ul-Hasan Senior, Tauqir Dar, Khawaja Junaid and Khalid Bashir.

Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2022