LAHORE: The ambiguity over who leads the Pakistan Hockey Federation will continue, at least until Saturday.

So far, there has been no reaction from retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar after the Prime Minister, as the patron-in-chief of the PHF, decided to appoint Tariq Hussain Masoori Bugti as the president to conduct elections of the country’s hockey governing body.

Khokhar, however, had called a press conference in Islamabad on Saturday where he will give his views.

Tariq, a former MPA from Balochistan, was appointed president through a notification on Thursday after getting clearance from the Election Commission of Pakistan a day earlier.

The decision has also been conveyed to the International Hockey Federation (FIH), Asian Hockey Federation, Pakistan Olympic Association, besides all the provincial sports bodies and Dawn has learnt that Tariq will be arriving soon to take charge of the PHF.

Sources close to Khokhar have told Dawn that Khokhar is keeping his cards close to his chest. He can either write to the FIH regarding government interference, get relief from any honourable court or welcome the decision of the prime minister.

The prime minister has given the mandate to Tariq to constitute a five-member committee to deal with the day to day affairs, besides scrutinising the clubs and the electoral college.

Khokhar has repeatedly been asked by the government during the last year to step down as PHF chief. His defiance has also seen the Pakistan Sports Board disaffiliate itself from the PHF while the Sindh government has also stopped its annual grant to the federation.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2023