A whole new low for Pakistan hockey

Pakistani side was unsuccessful in securing a berth for the 2016 Rio Olympics for the first time in its history

After failing to qualify for the World Cup last year, 2015 was another ill-fated story of a forgone fairytale for Pakistan hockey as the senior side was unsuccessful in securing a berth for the 2016 Rio Olympics for the first time in its history this July.

It was regrettable that a country that has won the Olympics gold thrice, World Cup four times, Asia Cup thrice, Asian Games gold a record eight times, Asian Champions Trophy gold twice, FIH Champions Trophy gold thrice and remained unbeaten at the regional level for many years, suffered such a massive setback.

However, the bulk of the blame can be allocated to the lack of funds being provided and generated for our national sport. The constituency of the then officials of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) — Olympians Chaudhary Akhtar Rasool and Rana Mujahid — were also blamed for Pakistan hockey’s downfall, leading to a new management under president Brig (retd) Sajjad Khokhar and Olympian Shahbaz Ahmed Senior.



The failure of the previous management became prominent when they failed to rope in a monetary grant from Prime Minister and Patron-in-chief Nawaz Sharif amid claims of financial embezzlement. And instead, the patron asked for an audit report of the previously released grant while the scheduled tours to Europe were cancelled after a lack of funds resulted in the calling off of the national training camp.

With no training under their belt and just two months left for the World Hockey League semi-finals — qualifiers for the Olympics — the senior side was a shadow of its former self. Their journey to Antwerp in Belgium was bleak; they finished rock-bottom (eighth place) and were simply made to give up their dreams of playing in Rio. The team’s failure thus resulted in resignations from the coaching panel and selectors.



When the new management came in, they took steps to revive the lost glory of the national sport with the support of the patron by organising the 62nd National Hockey Championship with a newly laid turf.

Although the New Year will not be an easy one to tackle with many hurdles yet to overcome, including backlash from various Olympians, the management will be looking to strengthen the national side and put Pakistan’s name back at the top.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.