KARACHI, Aug 26: Former hockey stalwarts on Thursday put Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to sword, calling for a change of guards as national side gave another dismal performance under the present set of officials at Athens Games.
Pakistan failed to make the semifinals after being thrashed by Spain 4-0 in a crucial match. The green shirts have failed to regain the lost glory and could not win a single major title in four years including two Olympics, World Cup, Champions Trophies, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games.
Abdul Rashid Jr took a swipe at the top PHF officials, saying they should quit after disastrous results in the Greek capital which were because of inept handling of affairs by them that pushed the sport into unprecedented abysmal depths.
"They (PHF officials) have been destroying hockey for the past four years. They hired a foreigner as coach just nine months before the Olympics Games. Now they want to make the coach a scapegoat to absolve themselves from the humiliation at Athens.
"This should end. The top PHF officials should leave or be sacked if they are not willing to go in a dignified manner. Senate should also hold an inquiry into the debacle at Olympics and the defeats during the past four years which are because of mismanagement," the former manager said.
The former centre-forward said while hundreds of so-called FIH qualified indigenous coaches were produced, PHF never tried to explore the untapped talent to fill the gap after Olympics.
"All the PHF has done is to send freeloaders including selectors to offshore tours to oblige them. I urge the Senate to probe how and why huge amount of money was ruthlessly thrown away by PHF," he demanded.
Rashid said heavy amount of public exchequer was spent on training abroad and hiring a foreign coach and that too nine months before the Games, while local coaches who stood against arbitrary decisions taken by PHF were made to leave because of secretary Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan.
Another Olympian Hanif Khan urged the PHF chief to remove the administrator who he thought was responsible for the disastrous results at Athens that had put the game into deeper turmoil.
"The game has been destroyed by the person at the helm of affairs for the past four years. I strongly urge the PHF president to take stock of the alarming situation and sack the administrator under him who is responsible for the fiasco at the Olympics.
"Debacle in Athens is not surprising keeping in view the damaging policies PHF had adopted for the past four years. Now it is time to change the administrator who has been misguiding the PHF chief and is surrounded by sycophants," he opined.
Hanif said PHF hired Dutchman Roelant Oltmans barely nine months ahead of the Games - a folly that eventually backfired as the team still gave an inconsistent performance. "It was incomprehensible why PHF hired a foreign coach just nine months before a mega event."
The former left-in lamented PHF did nothing to create a pool of youngsters that could fill in after the departure of senior players following the Olympics. Hanif called for taking damage control steps to prepare for the World Cup in 2006, saying PHF should first remove the administrator, give the coach at least a two-year term and sweeping selection and training powers.
"The coach, local or a foreigner, should be given two years till World Cup. The selection committee should be abolished since it has become a joke in the present scenario," said Hanif, also a former selector.