The former Pakistan centre-half Ayaz Mahmood , who was believed to be in the run for the post of secretary, said as he firmly believed that Qasim would never let any secretary work for the cause of the game, it would be better to stay away from the set up being run under him. -Photo by APP

KARACHI Former Pakistan hockey coach Ayaz Mahmood has vowed that he would never be a part of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) till Qasim Zia is its president, suggesting it is time to bring in a non-controversial personality as the games chief.

The 1984 Los Angeles Olympic gold medallist said Qasim should leave as he had failed to deliver by continuing his support for his inept secretary Asif Bajwa who he believed had ruined the sport through his one-man show.

“One thing is very clear now that I will not accept any position in PHF whether Asif Bajwa is removed or not. I will never join PHF as long as Qasim Zia is the president of the federation. I feel the PHF chief should be either PIA managing director like we used to have in the past or from any other department. He should choose his own secretary,” said Ayaz in an interview with Dawn.com on Sunday.

The former Pakistan centre-half, who was believed to be in the run for the post of secretary, said as he firmly believed that Qasim would never let any secretary work for the cause of the game, it would be better to stay away from the set up being run under him.

Ayaz said the sport had been spoiled since it was being run by politicians. He strongly believed Qasims support for Asif was purely because of politics within the PHF ranks because of which Pakistan finished at 12th spot in the recently-concluded World Cup in New Delhi.

Ayaz said Qasim, a PPP leader in Punjab, had abdicated in not only allowing Asif to run the hockey affairs single-handedly, but also supporting him despite knowing that Pakistan hockey had been ruthlessly ruined by the secretary.

Ayaz threw his weight behind legendary former Pakistan hockey chief Air Marshall Nur Khan, saying his advice should be sought to lift the sagging hockey fortunes.

“I can say this with full conviction that Air Marshall Nur Khan was the most successful hockey administrator. We won every laurel which was up for grabs. Nur Khan knew how to administer and he never let his secretary run the affairs in a dictatorial manner. He always kept checks on his secretary. Nur Khan is now 90 plus and may not take over as PHF president, but he must be requested to act as an advisor,” said Ayaz.

Pakistan hockey saw its golden era during the tenure of Nur Khan under whom the green shirts won every title including Olympic gold, World Cups, and Champions Trophy. The retired air marshall also has the distinction of instituting the World Cup and the Champions Trophy and is undoubtedly the most successful hockey administrator in the history.

“The rot actually started when Akhtar Rasool took over as the PHF president. Politics started when Akhtar came as PHF president. Just imagine, Akhtar occupied the seat where once a personality like Nur Khan used to sit. Being a PHF president should be a coveted job as it needs a personality of a great stature. But now it has become a joke. The sanctity of the position should be restored,” he said.

Ayaz said another reason why he would not join PHF in any capacity now was he did not want to be labelled as Qasims crony.

“As we (Ayaz and Qasim) have been good friends since 1977, I dont want to join PHF in any capacity. If I do that people will always consider me as his friend and not his secretary no matter how good I perform. So once he (Qasim) leaves, only then I can think of joining the PHF. But apart from this, I also feel that Qasim will never let anybody except Bajwa work because of dirty politics,” he said.

Ayaz had initially accepted to join as team manager when Qasim took over in 2008, but later regretted apparently because his department PIA did not release him.

“The fact is Qasim had offered me the job when I was posted in Russia and I had indeed accepted on the condition that I would remain with the department where I was working. But when I heard that I would be posted to sports division, I changed my mind. But then I thought that how can I work under Bajwa. It would be like an Army major saluting a havaldar. So I decided against joining the PHF,” he revealed.