LAHORE, Oct 23: National hockey team coach and former manager Khawaja Junaid is most likely to be excluded from the national team management which will be announced after the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) executive board convenes on Wednesday.

Well-informed sources told Dawn that Junaid is reluctant to hold his job having kept it for the last three years.

Though Junaid has adopted the stance that he is leaving the post to take care of his ailing father, insiders claimed he is not feeling comfortable working with Hanif Khan who is likely to be given the job of one of the coaches having relinquished the post of chief selector.

Mohammad Ajmal and Ahmed Alam are also said to be inducted into the coaching panel to work under the supervision of head coach Akhtar Rasool Chaudhry.

It is to be noted that post of Shahid Ali Khan as a goalkeeping coach is also in doldrums due to poor performance of goalie Imran Shah in the 2012 London Games.

Meanwhile, sources said the PHF executive board meeting will also discuss whether to continue with the national selection committee or abolish the system to empower head coach, a procedure practised across the world.

Most of the members of the executive board are said to be in favour of empowering the head coach, though a debate over consequences of doing away with the selection committee is expected before any decision.

It is pertinent to mention that immediate challenge for the new management will be the Champions Trophy scheduled to be held in December in Melbourne followed by the Asian Champions Trophy which will be staged in Doha.

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