LONDON: Among the current lot of senior players, midfielder Waseem Ahmad is the first to call it a day from international hockey, but vows that he will continue to play for his departmental team.

“I have decided to announce my retirement after a career spanning over 16 years,” Waseem, 35, told Dawn after playing his last match against South Korea at the London Olympics here on Thursday. Pakistan finished seventh at the Games.

Stating that he had already informed the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) about his decision, the midfielder, who made his international debut in 1996 during the Champions Trophy held in Chennai, said he decided to announce his retirement since he did not want to be sidelined by the PHF.

Waseem said he had no information if any other senior player was also deciding to retire.

“Of course, I have regrets that I am going without any big title to my credit and the failure has many reasons,” said the veteran of 377 matches, adding: “It all depends with which team you have been playing and under which circumstances.”

“Unfortunately, the Pakistan team could not be turned into a match-winning side during my career,” the midfielder regretted.