LAHORE: Pakistan hockey, which is already reeling with a number of grave issues and problems that gradually led to its unprecedented decline in the last couple of decades, has witnessed yet another crisis. In a disturbing development, Pakistan head coach Tahir Zaman did not accompany the national squad which left for Bangladesh on Saturday to play a three-match series there.

It has emerged that Tahir developed differences with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), allegedly over national team’s selection for the Bangladesh tour.

PHF secretary Rana Mujahid confirmed to Dawn that Tahir had the stance that the latecomers of the training camp, set up in Islamabad for the said tour, should not be included in the national squad.

“Tahir objected to including Rana Wahid and Hammad Anjum both of whom joined the camp late due to their contract with foreign leagues,” Mujahid said.

Though Tahir adopted a strong stance to uphold discipline but overall there were 10 players joined the camp late for featuring in foreign leagues, the PHF secretary underlined.

“The PHF agreed to impose some cash penalty on all the players who had joined the [national] camp late. However, Tahir insisted that Wahid and Hammad should not be part of the national squad,” Mujahid revealed.

In the absence of Tahir, the secretary added, team manager Mohammad Usman would also be handling the responsibilities of head coach in Bangladesh.

Speaking about the 2025-26 FIH Pro League in which Pakistan will also participate, Mujahid said that the PHF would try to hire the services of foreign coaches for the league.

“The performance in the Pro-League will be crucial to attain a good position in the world rankings, and the PHF is serious about taking every possible step to achieve this goal,” the secretary added.

Launched in 2017, the Pro League featuring teams from nine countries will be held from December 2025 to June 2026. The event serves as a qualifier for the World Cup.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2025