Pakistan's Abbasi Shakeel (L) and South Korea's Jang Jong Hyun (R) fight for the ball during their semi-final match at the Asia Cup field hockey 2013 tournament in Ipoh on August 30, 2013. PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: Former Olympians and fans Saturday mourned the "darkest day" in Pakistan's sporting history after the four time world champions failed to qualify for the World Cup for the first time ever in history.
Pakistan went down 2-1 to South Korea in the Asia Cup semi-final in Malaysia on Friday, a tournament they needed to win to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in the Netherlands.
Former captain Islahuddin Siddiqui said their downfall was "tragic".
"This is the darkest day in our sports in general and hockey in particular," Islahuddin told AFP.
"This will be the first time that we will miss the World Cup, a tournament which Pakistan introduced in 1971."
Pakistan won the inaugural competition in 1971 and triumphed again in 1978, 1982 and 1994.
Islahuddin said Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should address the crisis in hockey, which is the country's official national sport, although it is overshadowed by cricket.
"This federation is working since 2008 and we came eighth in the Beijing Olympics, 12th, last in the 2010 World Cup, seventh in the London Olympics 2012 and now out of the 2014 World Cup," said Islahuddin, under whom Pakistan won their last Asia Cup title, way back in 1989.
"The prime minister is addressing all the problems faced by Pakistan and this is the right time to change people at the helm because we cannot go worse than this," he said.
Three-time Olympic gold medallists, Pakistan have suffered a serious slump in field hockey. Their only triumph since 1994 was the Asian Games title in 2010.
Olympian Shahnaz Shaikh said he felt heart-broken at hockey's downfall.
"Why am I alive to see this day?" said Shaikh, vice-captain of Pakistan's triumphant 1978 World Cup team. "It's sad, sad and sad, we have seen this day when the masters of hockey have come to this stage."
Shaikh said the government must replace the current hockey federation leadership.
"It's time we have a change at the top, until and unless we do that it would be impossible to change our hockey fortune," said Shaikh, also a qualified coach.
Hanif Khan, a member of country's last Olympic gold medal winning team in 1984, said Pakistan hockey had gone back 25 years.
"Now when we don't play with the top 12 teams of the world in the World Cup, where will our team stand? They will be 25 years back at the international level," said Khan, under whose coaching Pakistan finished seventh in the first World Cup qualifiers in July this year.
Sports analyst Ejaz Chaudhry said the hockey team's failure was a "national tragedy".
"We have ruled the hockey world but the current set-up of the federation has brought us at the lowest point, it's a national tragedy," said Chaudhry.
Fans on the streets chanted slogans against the Pakistan Hockey Federation and the team.
"Shame," shouted Ali Iqbal Gujjar while recording his views on television in Faisalabad. "Our national sport has died, we must sack all those who are responsible for this."
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@syed baqar ahsan: sorry sir i do not agree with your comment.i am an urdu speaking but would openly admit hockey was always popular in punjab even much before partition. all the hockey greats have been from punjab with few exceptions like hanif khan, islahuddin etc.even in india most of the players are from punjab. honestly we have to admit that punjab has always given the lion's share of the hockey players.fact is fact. i or you can not deny it.the state of our hockey is a national tragedy and we all have to put our heads together to solve it.i can agree with you if you are saying hockey players turned politicians are putting their personal or party agenda before the game.that has nothing to do with punjab.it is in all organizations in pakistan at the moment.
there are characters like Akhter Rasool&company and punjabi network who have destroyed hockey why should we blame team,this was expected well before but it came little late,we have no caliber to look beyond punjab.
we have already lot of things to mourn daily so lets add hockey to it,political appointees and very old bulls looking after this game of very young boys full of stamina and muscles, our old is gold theory is being used for manager,selectors,coach and the best part is that these son-in-laws of hockey do not resign after repeated defeats.Hockey in schools,colleges, universities and departments is on low priority.
I think the national side played well within their means in the Asia Cup. The loss to Malaysia was fighting. The downfall of the hockey is a long story.Our passion is cricket.Hockey has been wiped out of School specially in Punjab and Karachi which gave most of the young blood.Hockey players earn 5% of the cricket.Movies are made'main houn shahid afridi' and 'not main houn shahnaz shaikh'.Do we expect that a young school boy will travel all the way to a practice on astro turf @ hcp stadium from landhi, korangi,orangi and new karachi daily? hockey died not at asia cup @ KL but 30 years ago when we ignored it in favour of cricket.we got neither of it.we have to start all over again and even then it will take 15 years to be at the top.choice is ours?
“The prime minister is addressing all the problems faced by Pakistan and this is the right time to change people at the helm because we cannot go worse than this,”
When these greats have a patronising mindset instead of critiquing these criminals in the govt who have destroyed this nation, they will never achieve anything. Worst is yet to come and that us the non-existence if this country the way things are going.