ISLAMABAD Pakistani field hockey legend Manzoor Hussain Atif died early on Monday aged 81 after a long illness, his family said.

Hussain represented Pakistan in four Olympics and was part of the team that won the gold medal at the 1960 Rome Games.

He was team manager when Pakistan won its second and third Olympic golds, in Mexico in 1968 and in Los Angeles in 1984.

He served as secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation for 11 years, becoming the first non-European chairman of the International Hockey Federation Rules Board in 1994.

Hussain also held the position of Asian Hockey Federation secretary for 16 years and was vice president of the organisation between 1982 and 2001.

He was highly respected in the hockey world and was instrumental in raising the sport`s profile at the international level.