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ISLAMABAD/LAHORE: Mohiyuddin Ahmad Wani, the newly appointed ad-hoc president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), on Friday called a meeting with the national team management in Islamabad on Saturday to decide its fate for the forthcoming World Cup qualifier, in the backdrop of the ongoing turmoil that emerged on the squad’s just-concluded tour to Australia.
The Pakistan squad is scheduled to leave for Egypt on Feb 24 to play the World Cup qualifying event there.
After Pakistan team captain Ammad Butt’s recent outburst against the team management over what he claimed grave off-the-field problems the players faced during the Australia tour, the Mohiyuddin-led ad-hoc set-up faces a tricky situation before deciding whether to retain the current team management for the World Cup qualifying event. The management comprises head coach Tahir Zaman, manager-cum-assistant coach Usman Sheikh and assistant coach Zeeshan Ashraf that accompanied the team on the Australia tour for the second leg of the FIH Pro League.
In a major development on Friday, the ad-hoc president in his statement to media announced an immediate removal of the two-year ban on Ammad. Just a day ago, the disgruntled skipper was banned by the outgoing PHF president Tariq Hussain Bugti for misconduct.
“All institutions are aligned to bring back glory to our national sport. We’ll conduct elections for a new leadership, ensuring a democratic transition, and I’ve immediately removed the ban on national team captain Ammad Butt. Transparency and fairness will guide our decisions,” he said while thanking Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for putting trust in him.
Mohiyuddin, the Federal Secretary of the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC), was appointed ad-hoc president by PHF patron-in-chief Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday soon after Bugti tendered his resignation in a media talk. The PM also accepted the resignations of PHF secretary Rana Mujahid and treasurer Shahid Pervaiz Bhandara.
PLEDGE TO REVIVE HOCKEY
In his statement, Mohiyuddin pledged to revive the country’s national game through a comprehensive plan after assuming charge of the PHF.
“As the newly appointed ad-hoc President of the PHF, I assure stakeholders of our commitment to revive and strengthen hockey in Pakistan,” Mohiyuddin said.
“We’re stabilizing the organisation, rebuilding trust, and revamping [the] team management. Our short-term focus is on addressing pressing issues, while our medium-term plan aims to develop a strategic vision, enhance coaching and training, and foster institutional coordination.”
He added, “We’ll improve governance, ensure efficient resource management, and forge private sector partnerships to support our athletes. Players will focus on training and matches, while we handle the rest.”
The latest chaos in Pakistan hockey started after media reports said the squad that toured Australia earlier this month for the second leg of the FIH Pro League faced serious accommodation crisis in Sydney and Hobart during the tour. Ammad and some other senior players immediately after returning from Australia levelled serious allegations against the team management for what they termed poor arrangements made for the said tour.
Bugti denied all the allegations and put the blame on the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) before tendering the resignation.
Soon after Bugti’s resignation, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi stepped in and met the hockey players and assured PCB’s full cooperation for sending the national team to Egypt. The PCB in a statement on Thursday also announced that cheques of Rs1,000,000 had been given to each member of the hockey team, which took second position in the last six international events.
On Friday morning, the PCB sought passports of the national team players but returned them back to the PHF secretariat within a few hours. Dawn a day earlier had reported that the outgoing PHF president had already made all the arrangements including squad’s accommodation and air travel for the World Cup qualifying round through a grant received from Balochistan government.
NA BODY SEEKS TO PROBE ENTIRE EPISODE
Also on Friday, the Sub-Committee of the National Assembly Standing Committee on IPC decided to review the entire episode related to the disaster the national hockey team faced in Australia.
The sub-committee meeting, held at the Parliament House under the convened by MNA Mehreen Razzaq Bhutto, was attended by Mohiyuddin and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general Mohammad Yasir Pirzada besides other committee members.
Taking a strong notice of the serious problems faced by the team in Australia, the committee announced that it will seek a detailed briefing on the matter.
Terming the troubles of the hockey team unfortunate, Mehreen said that the committee would get to the depth of the issue to find out who were actually responsible for the fiasco.
“Our hearts beat for hockey just as they do for cricket. We will determine who is responsible for ruining our sports,” she remarked.
Speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hassan, another member of the said committee, insisted that both the PSB and the PHF had failed in carrying out their responsibilities. Therefore, he proposed, a meeting be arranged with the prime minister to discuss hockey-related matters.
Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2026
