LAHORE, Oct 4: Pakistan hockey has once again plunged into turmoil after team manager Abdul Rashid Junior quit following a 4-2 humiliation against India at Asia Cup final.
A Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) spokesman announced on Saturday that Rashid has stepped down and he has been replaced by another Olympian Hassan Sardar.
Rashid was named manager days before August’s Champions Trophy in Amstelveen in place of Shahnaz Sheikh who also quit after being dragged into a controversy involving three players who went to play league abroad without PHF’s permission.
Shahnaz was charged with instigating Mohammad Nadeem, Waseem Ahmad and Sohail Abbas to play league in Germany.
He was later exonerated by a PHF inquiry committee.
Like the case of Shahnaz, PHF has once again cited “domestic reasons” for Rashid’s resignation.
However, there are strong indications that he has resigned as he was not satisfied with the hockey affairs. Rashid had clearly stated when he took over the charge that he would quit if he found the working of the PHF unsatisfactory and unprofessional.
Rashid, who had staged his comeback after almost eight years, was also the manager of the team which played Asia Cup and was defeated when India scored twice within couple of minutes in the final.
Before the departure of the squad to Malaysia, Rashid had suggested to PHF to include two more players for the Asia Cup with an idea to give the youngsters more international exposure but the PHF had turned his request down.
Instead, PHF dropped goalkeeping coach Shahid Ali Khan to accommodate Dutch physiotherapist Derek Verder besides taking no less than 18 persons, including half a dozen “observers” to Kuala Lumpur where the Asia Cup was organized.
Meanwhile, PHF has called up 29 probables including discarded goalkeeper Mohammad Qasim for the training camp for the inaugural Afro-Asian Games in Hyderabad, India, from Oct 24 to Nov 1.
Qasim was axed after the victory at Azlan Shah Cup earlier this year in March. He was not even among the probables invited for the Asia Cup.
His recall came after dismal goalkeeping by number one custodian Ahmad Alam in Champions Trophy and Asia Cup which drew sharp reaction from experts.
The camp begins here at National Hockey Stadium from Oct 5. The 16-member squad would be announced after a week-long training camp.
Probables:
PTCL: Salman Akbar, Tariq Imran, Ghazanfar Ali, Saleem Khalid, Shakeel Abbasi, Aqeel Khan, Tariq Aziz, Akhtar Ali.
PIA: Ahmad Alam, Aamir Saleem, Ali Raza.
NBP: Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Nadeem, Adnan Maqsood, Abdul Asim Khan.
Wapda: Rehan Butt, Mudassir Ali Khan, Shabbir Hussain, Waseem Ahmad, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Qasim.
HBL: Kashif Jawwad, Imran Khan.
ABL: Mohammad Saqlain.
Army: Dilawar Hussain, Mohammad Imran, Mohammad Khalid.
Sindh: Nasir Ahmad.
Police: Ikhlaq Ahmad.