LAHORE: A number of rebel players as well as PHF disciplinary committee officials failed to appear in the first hearing of the World Series Hockey (WSH) rebels at the National Hockey Stadium here on Monday as three former captains defended their action of joining the cash-rich yet controversial hockey league in India.

Out of the eight players set to appear before the Pakistan Hockey Federation’s disciplinary committee, only five turned up on Monday while three out the five members of the disciplinary committee also failed to make their appearance.

Three former Pakistan captains, namely Zeeshan Ashraf, Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi along with Waseem Ahmed and Tariq Aziz appeared before the disciplinary committee chief Wasay Jalil to defend their actions of going to India and participating in the breakaway league without the permission of the PHF.

Former captain Imran Warsi, along with Adnan Maqsood and Mudassar Ali Khan failed to show up at the hearing as they are out of the country. As far the committee members are concerned, only Balochistan’s Farooq Ahmad alongside Wasay Jalil were present on Monday while Saghir Ahmed, Saeed Khan and Tanzeela Amir were absent. According to Wasay Jalil, Saeed Ahmed was not keeping well while the other two officials were not in the country.

All five players who appeared on Monday took a similar stance in defending their cases, saying that they had signed up for the WSH before March 31, 2011, way before the PHF and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) issued instructions against the league, and were therefore bound to take part in the inaugural edition of the controversial league.

The players remained optimistic about a favourable decision in the matter and said they were looking forward to representing the country in the upcoming London Olympics.

Wasay Jalil, meanwhile, told reporters that he had taken into consideration the players’ views and the committee would finalise its recommendations for the PHF within a week after consultation with the three absent members of the committee.

He also informed that the committee also had the mandate to consider the complaints of the players against the PHF officials, since all the members were also the part of the federation’s Executive Board.

Zeeshan Ashraf, who captained Pakistan to Asian Games glory in 2010 that secured them a berth in the Olympics, told reporters: “I had already been ignored by the PHF officials after we won gold medal in the Asian Games, therefore I signed up with the WSH. Clear instructions from the PHF came much later, so I went to play there.”

It might be mentioned here that Zeeshan was not happy as even after winning the Asian Games title, he could not get a permanent job in the NBP. Moreover, the PHF turned a deaf ear to his request that he wanted to feature in only selected tournaments.

Shakeel Abbasi, who was his usual calm self during the hearing, said he was bound by his contract to play in the WSH as he had signed up for it in 2011. “I want to clarify that I am available for Pakistan and am very much fit for the game,” he said.

Shakeel, along with Rehan Butt, was included in the national team’s training camp that was held in Lahore from February to March this year in view to prepare the team for the Azlan Shah Cup (in May) and the Olympics, which start on July 27.

However, the duo left for India on the very first day of the training camp to leave the PHF stunned.

Pundits, however, believe that Shakeel is an automatic selection for the national team while Rehan, if fully fit, should also be considered for selection. “I am hopeful for a comeback in the national side as I am quite fit,” Rehan told reporters. “I hope the disciplinary committee takes a decision in our favour.”

Waseem Ahmed, meanwhile, expressed hope that the PHF would not take severe action against the players. “We didn’t do anything wrong in fulfilling the commitment we had made,” he said, while adding that he was available for the Azlan Shah Cup.

Tariq Aziz, the fifth player who attended the hearing, has been out of the national team over a string of unsavoury actions during international matches some three years back.