A NEW secretariat, the same old promises of reviving hockey in Pakistan. As many of Syed Haider Hussain’s predecessors have discovered, it is easier said than done. The newly appointed Pakistan Hockey Federation general secretary has vowed to take the national team back to the glory days when Pakistan was undisputed king of the sport. Mr Haider has premised his argument on how that will be achieved on the basis of the same proposals that had been put forward by his predecessors. The launch of a franchise league is again high on the agenda as is the revival of inter-school competitions. But with PHF’s dispute with the Pakistan Sports Board, the sport is on shaky ground. Mr Haider was made acting secretary by embattled PHF president retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar last month after the PSB de-notified three top officials of the country’s hockey governing body, including Mr Khokhar, for failing to hold elections on time. The PSB then appointed a four-member committee, which included the PHF chief, to hold fresh elections. Mr Khokhar, though, contested that an election held that way would contravene the rules set by FIH — the game’s global body — and held elections in Karachi recently, which saw him being re-elected and Mr Haider becoming full-time general secretary.

Mr Haider has played an integral role in reviving the game as general secretary of Karachi’s hockey association. Replicating that on a national level will be, as he says, a ‘Herculean’ task. This month, the national team finished a lowly seventh at the Commonwealth Games. It is already out of next year’s World Cup — a thought that would have been unfathomable during Pakistan hockey’s heyday — and qualifying for the 2024 Olympics in Paris seems difficult. Mr Haider has spoken about reviving hockey in schools; that could play a crucial part in arresting the hockey decline, and provide fresh blood to a diminishing talent pool. The franchise league could then raise the sport’s profile in the country. Such plans, though, have been talked about previously. Mr Haider must ensure that this time they prove successful.

Published in Dawn, August 23rd, 2022