Heuvel opts to take the back seat

Pakistan hockey coach will not engage in any sporting activities until his contract is finalised.

KARACHI: Pakistan hockey coach Michel van den Heuvel will not engage in any sporting activities until the negotiations regarding his contract are finalised, according to the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

“Heuvel is not observing the National Hockey Championship because we are still negotiating his contract,” PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa told The Express Tribune. “It will take us a little time but he will not get involved in anything before that. This is primarily because of his reservations about the security situation and a few other things that I can’t reveal at this time.”

Bajwa added that the Dutch will not be conducting the coaching clinic either.

“Heuvel has said that he won’t conduct the coaching clinic in Faisalabad and we understand his reasons. So we are trying to resolve the issues with a different perspective, now that we have won the Asian Games title and we have to prepare for the Olympics.”

Heuvel, who signed a two-year contract with the PHF last year, prepared the Greenshirts for the 2010 Asian Games in China in November, but returned to his native Netherlands after the tournament. However, he came to Pakistan on February 3 to renegotiate his contract with the federation and plans on going back on February 14.

Earlier, it was reported that the Dutch will resume his job with the team and observe the performances of the players during the National Hockey Championship along with conducting a coaching clinic. However, the coach decided to stay away from both the events and it was former Pakistan coach Khwaja Junaid who led the five-day coaching clinic with 27 other coaches from February 5 and attended the National Hockey Championship matches instead.

Meanwhile, regarding the selection of the players for the Azlan Shah Cup in Malaysia, the first international event of the year, Bajwa said that the selection committee will be taking more responsibility.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 12^th, 2011.