The PHF had initially planned a tour of China, but that idea collapsed while their next proposal for Malaysia in mid-February also fell through, citing the same reason as before —shortage of funds. PHOTO: REUTERS
Consequently, the senior players have decided to play in international leagues in order to prepare themselves after performing last at the Champions Trophy in December where ended as runners-up.
The PHF had initially planned a tour of China, but that idea collapsed while their next proposal for Malaysia in mid-February also fell through, citing the same reason as before —shortage of funds.
“We cannot prepare for the qualifiers by only participating in national events as we have to face top teams from around the world in order to make our place in the Olympics,” said Pakistan’s young centre-half Tousiq Arshad. “Although we grabbed a silver in both the Asian Games [September] and the Champions Trophy, without tours this will not be the case each time.”
Another player also rued the state of affairs, saying, “The reason we have decided to join international leagues is because of the financial crisis, we haven’t even been paid for our hard work as yet.”
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