‘Officials, selectors and coaches must all resign’
Former hockey players come down hard after Olympics failure.
Pakistan’s thrashing at the hands of Australia that put the Greenshirts out of the medals race has forced former players and Olympians to demand resignations from the Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) top brass.
The Olympians have asked the PHF President Qasim Zia and secretary Asif Bajwa, as well as the selection committee and the team management, to take the blame and step down.
“We are standing exactly where we were in Beijing four years ago,” former captain Qamar Zia told The Express Tribune. “The federation’s policies have failed to yield results and now they should resign to give the country’s hockey a new start. This setup is not capable of delivering the goods and that has been proved by the team’s results under them. We will once again feature in a position match like we did four years ago while the pain of a bottom-place finish in the World Cup is still fresh.”
Government should interfere: Ibrahim
Meanwhile, another Olympian Qamar Ibrahim said that the repeated blunders by the PHF think-tank deprived the team of a podium finish.
“They’ve committed countless blunders,” said Ibrahim. “For instance, the decision to keep just one goal-keeper in the squad was suicidal and cost the team dearly. Shahid Ali Khan, the goal-keeping coach, is the same man under whom Pakistan finished bottom in the World Cup. The PHF is making a mockery of the national game by obliging its favourites. This whole set-up should be abolished.
“There is still hope and the the government should take action before it is too late.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2012.
The Olympians have asked the PHF President Qasim Zia and secretary Asif Bajwa, as well as the selection committee and the team management, to take the blame and step down.
“We are standing exactly where we were in Beijing four years ago,” former captain Qamar Zia told The Express Tribune. “The federation’s policies have failed to yield results and now they should resign to give the country’s hockey a new start. This setup is not capable of delivering the goods and that has been proved by the team’s results under them. We will once again feature in a position match like we did four years ago while the pain of a bottom-place finish in the World Cup is still fresh.”
Government should interfere: Ibrahim
Meanwhile, another Olympian Qamar Ibrahim said that the repeated blunders by the PHF think-tank deprived the team of a podium finish.
“They’ve committed countless blunders,” said Ibrahim. “For instance, the decision to keep just one goal-keeper in the squad was suicidal and cost the team dearly. Shahid Ali Khan, the goal-keeping coach, is the same man under whom Pakistan finished bottom in the World Cup. The PHF is making a mockery of the national game by obliging its favourites. This whole set-up should be abolished.
“There is still hope and the the government should take action before it is too late.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 8th, 2012.