Former hockey players Samiullah and Islahuddin —APP/File photo

LAHORE Former Pakistan hockey team captain and chief selector Islahuddin Siddiqui has claimed that the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has been deprived of an important seat in the Rules Board by not recommending his name for it to the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Islah, while speaking to Dawn, said that he had held a seat in the Rules Board since the past 17 years but the current PHF hierarchy withdrew his name from the Board, without even informing him. Saying so he added that the PHF also failed to get the new nominee Rana Mujahid elected and Pakistan has no representative left in the Board.

He said that while rejecting Rana Mujahid`s nomination, the FIH, included former Indian captain Pargat Singh in the Rules Board.

Islah claimed that had the PHF recommended him for the same Board, he could have retained his seat easily.

`In fact, PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa gave me wrong information about my name not being withdrawn from the Rules Board,` Islah said.

`I had only gotten to know about it after coming across a news item in Dawn,` he said. `So I contacted Bajwa about it and he told me that he had not spoken to the newspaper,` Islah said.

`But the report proved correct when I learned that my name had really been withdrawn from the Rules Board. That done Bajwa informed me that my name had been recommended for the equipment committee instead,` he said.

`But as my recommendation was made late, I could not even get a seat in the equipment committee as well,` he informed.

He said that the Rules Board head had asked him in FIH`s last meeting held in Los Angles, that even though the Board was to continue with him, they still needed a recommendation from the PHF.

`As PHF`s former president Zafarullah Khan Jamali had already informed me that my name had been retained for the Board, also confirmed later by Bajwa, I was confident about PHF`s recommending me. But it was rather surprising for me to learn that I was not in,` he said.

When contacted, PHF secretary Asif Bajwa said that it was not necessary to take anyone into confidence before recommending their name for a seat.

`We sent his (Islah`s) name for the equipment committee but he could not be elected, unfortunately. Still it is FIH`s prerogative to consider or dismiss recommendations,` he said.

Bajwa denied Islah`s allegation of telling him that he had not spoken to any newspaper about the new nominations.

The PHF secretary further said that Islah had had a long association with FIH`s Rules Board and his performance there had been exemplary.

While the PHF secretary claimed the federation had taken the decision about Islah unanimously, the former captain said he could not find any such decision in the minutes of the last two meetings of the PHF Executive Board.

Islah was also of the opinion that he did not need any portfolio to serve the nation in the field of hockey and he was ready to do anything for Pakistan even without any post.

Bajwa claimed that the PHF had succeeded in getting its five representatives in different FIH committees, which was a great success.

Asif Bajwa himself has been elected in the competition committee, while Rana Mujahid is in the athletes committee. Barrister Shahida Jamil is in the judicial committee, Shahid Pervez Bhindra the marketing committee and Rashad Mahmood Butt in the umpiring committee. Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Shahbaz Senior, also failed to find a place in the development committee.