The state of Pakistan hockey

The media today is always in search of news, which can be presented to the public in a sensational manner. This was evident when Pakistan’s national hockey team lost the Asian Games final to our archrivals India, with the defeat being blamed on the hockey federation, the players and the team management.

However, before we start apportioning blame for the defeat, we need to view the current state of Pakistan hockey. The sport in Pakistan suffers from problems that possibly no other team has faced. While it is true that the national team was not able to qualify for the World Cup for the first time recently, we also need to consider that it did not play any international match for about 10 months. The players were not handed a central contact for over 20 months and the Pakistan Hockey Federation did not receive funds from the federal government.

If you look back through the history of Pakistan hockey, there have been players who served their country diligently against all sorts of odds and won laurels for the national team, including in the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, where Pakistan clinched the gold medal. After victory at the 1982 World Cup, the team faced numerous failures and disappointments for the next two years, but then managed to grab the gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984. The world saw Pakistan winning the 1994 World Cup against all odds too. Given this history of successfully fighting against the odds, there is hope that despite all the setbacks and disappointments, the national team will not only win the 2016 Olympics, but will also show the world its mental strength.

A majority of Pakistanis follow cricket very keenly and it is also the only sport that gets proper funding. Despite only providing the nation with two world titles in 1992 and 2009, I fail to see why everyone in the country is so obsessed with this sport? Hockey has provided Pakistan with more medals than all other sports combined. What the greenshirts need right now is guidance from legends like Shahnaz Sheikh, Akhtar Rasool, Sohail Abbas and Islahuddin Siddiqui, as well as solid governmental support so that hockey can flourish in the country again.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 16^th, 2014.