LAHORE: Former Olympian and seasoned coach Tahir Zaman has joined the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and abandoned the group of ex-Olympians agitating against incumbents of the federation.

Tahir, a member of the Pakistan team at the 1992 Olympics and the 1994 World Cup, later on adopted coaching as a profession and did the job with the national team in 2002.

“I have joined the Pakistan Hockey Federation unconditionally for the betterment of the national team,” Tahir told Dawn after meeting PHF president Qasim Zia and secretary Asif Bajwa.

To a question, Tahir said previously as Olympian his opinion for the betterment of the national hockey might be different from the one PHF supported, but now under the current circumstances he felt that the PHF was ready to give him an opportunity to perform his job in a more professional way.

So, Tahir said, he decided to join the federation in the national interests.

Answering another question, he said the PHF did not offer him any particular job.

However, it is most likely that initially Tahir would be offered the job of a consultant. Later on, he may be given another job after observing his performance.

Tahir, who is an FIH-qualified coach and has conducted various coaching assignments, is also a member of the FIH high performance committee.

Meanwhile, the PHF is likely to announce a ‘new’ team management by coming Wednesday.

Sources said the PHF had almost completed work on reshuffling in the management, adding that the change may be confined to selection and management affairs.

There is also a proposal whether to eliminate the entire selection committee or to keep it with some change.

The next big task of the PHF is the Champions Trophy, scheduled to be held in December in Australia, and after two weeks the Asian Champions Trophy will be held in Doha.

It is pertinent to mention that Pakistan got a special entry in the Champions Trophy after getting a poor seventh position in the London Games.