LAHORE, Aug 20 Olympian Mohammad Saqlain is likely to escape punishment for criticising the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Asif Bajwa after head of the disciplinary committee Shahid Pervaiz Bhandara admitted his committee had no prescribed rules under which it could punish anyone.

Addressing a press conference after completing the first hearing of the case at the National Hockey Stadium here on Thursday, Bhandara said all the members of the committee heard Saqlain's point of view in a friendly atmosphere and a decision would be taken soon.

When asked whether his committee had any specified rules which suggested different clauses for punishment, Bhandara surprised everyone by saying there were no such rules with the disciplinary committee.

He added that hopefully the stage of awarding the punishment would not come in the case concerning Saqlain.

He said the committee would submit its recommendations to the PHF president who is the authority to announce the punishment, if any.

Meanwhile, Saqlain said he had given his point of view over the issue to the disciplinary committee and was hoping for justice. To a question he said if he would not get justice in the case, he would stage a protest.

Saqlain said he was quite fit for the game and his fitness was far better than many other senior players who had been selected for the ongoing training camp. He said a neutral panel could test his fitness and that of the senior players any time.