LAHORE, Aug 20 Four Olympians — Khalid Mahmood, Naveed Alam, Tahir Zaman and Mansoor Ahmed — led a rally of Punjab players protesting against the attitude of the Punjab Hockey Association (PHA) and the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

The protesters raised slogans in front of the PHF and PHA offices after which they proceeded to the Punjab Sports Department to hand over a charge sheet to an official of the Punjab government while appealing to Punjab's chief minister to take action against the office-bearers of the provincial association.

According to the charge sheet, the four Olympians have alleged that while Punjab had nine regions, the PHA invited only four for the trials being held to select an U-18 team for the national league, scheduled to be held in Karachi next month.

They added that Sialkot was not a region and that it had been formed unconstitutionally.

They further alleged that both the PHA and the PHF were involved in by-passing the elected persons and making changes in the constitution through unconstitutional methods.

Former PHF secretary, Khalid Mahmood, said the federal government should take action against the current officials of the PHF as they have taken several unconstitutional steps while also tarnishing the image of the country globally.

He accused the PHF of paying salaries to double jobbers, which was constitutionally wrong as earlier all posts of the PHF were on occupied on an honorary basis. But now the federation Secretary Asif Bajwa himself along with several others were drawing pays from two different institutions.

They also alleged the former Olympian Akhtar Rasool and former PHA president Imran Masood of destroying the system of Punjab hockey.