KARACHI, March 24: Sargodha joined Wapda in protest against Steel Mills for fielding four Wapda players in the ongoing national hockey championship match on Saturday, claiming it is blatant violation of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) rules.

Sargodha team manager Mohammad Zafar submitted an official protest to tournament director Hanif Khan, saying Steel Mills have included four Wapda players – Farhan Asif, M. Kamran, Imran Malik and M. Sarfaraz – although they have not resigned from Wapda.

The Sargodha official contended that according to article 25 D of PHF constitution, a player cannot play from another department without a No Objection Certificate. He pleaded that in another condition a player must have resigned before Feb 20 from one organisation and should have proof of joining the department he wants to represent at the championship.

“However, in case of these four players, they still are employees of Wapda. We have lost against Steel Mills because of induction of these four players, therefore, I request that Steel Mills should be scratched from the tournament and Sargodha be declared winners of Saturday’s match,” Zafar wrote to tournament director.

According to directives issued to all the provincial associations, the eligibility criteria says: “…the players employed in departments/stipend holders/contract basis, fulfilling all the requirements laid down in Article 25 (D) of the PHF constitution, are eligible. The transfer of the players from one department to another should be completed fulfilling the procedural formalities before Feb 20, 2007. The players joining a department must produce ‘Relieving Certificate’ and the ‘Joining Report’ of the new department…”

Wapda had already lodged a protest against Steel Mills on Friday, claiming that the latter fielded four of their employees violating the PHF directives and rules.

Hanif said Wapda manager Mansoorul Haq had submitted proof that the four players were on Wapda’s payroll, while Steel Mills had sought time till Monday to furnish proof that the four players were actually their employees.

“We have received documents from Wapda officials and are now waiting for response from Steel Mills who will submit proof to establish the four players are their employees. We will decide the matter on Monday,” the former Pakistan captain told Dawn.

Although Steel Mills manager Rashid Ali Khan claimed that Wapda had fielded one of their players, Zubair, who was a Steel Mills employee for the last two years.

Interestingly, Hanif said he had not received any official protest from Steel Mills.

However, Rashid complained about the surface at Hockey Club of Pakistan, saying it is uneven and dry.

“The pitch is sub-standard, full of mud and is uneven, causing problems for the players. We asked several times to the organisers to water the field during the halftime, but nobody cared. Since it was dry it was bit difficult to control the ball because of bouncy surface,” Steel Mills manager said.

The HCP pitch was not watered through water sprinklers during halftime. The surface was watered only through one water sprinkler manually mostly in the midfield.

Meanwhile, Sargodha manager Zafar also complained about accommodation provided by organisers Pakistan Customs, claiming that three of team players had fallen ill because of mosquitoes.

“The accommodation is so horrible that we can’t sleep. It is open and infested with mosquitoes. It is really pathetic. Three of our players are now ill because of poor arrangements.”