LAHORE: Secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Fede­ration (PHF) Shahbaz Ahmed Senior admitted he had no more reasons to defend the recent disappointing performances of the national team and that it was not good enough to win any title in the next two years.

Pakistan finished last in the recently concluded four-nation International Hockey Festival in Australia losing to the hosts, Japan and New Zealand and conceding 14 goals and scoring just four.

Shahbaz, while addressing media at the PHF offi­ces, said the national team was still in formation period.

The former Olympian complained national players were more interested in playing and performing for their foreign league sides more than proving their mettle as good players for Pakistan.

However, Shahbaz was hopeful the Asian Games in Jakarta next year can prove to be the launching pad towards success for Pakistan.

He also ruled out the chances of hiring the services of foreign coaching staff for the national team, due to lack of funds.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2017