Is hockey’s dire need of a financial ‘scoop’ justified?

KARACHI: Let’s cut to the chase, hockey is simply no more a money churning sport in Pakistan. We like to call it the ‘national’ sport, our ‘pride’ and the ‘sport that gave the country an ‘identity’, when perhaps there was nothing but the collective failure of the administrators, and the plummeting standard of play has left the sport gasping for air.

With the cricket World Cup gripping the nation last month, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) cried hoarse for the umpteenth time, claiming that they had no funds to organise even a training camp for the three-time Olympic champions ahead of this year’s qualifiers for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The camp was set up in Lahore and then pulled-up midway since the national federation ran out of funds — the empty coffers couldn’t even bear the expense of players’ daily allowances, which stands at a paltry Rs800 for the players and Rs1,000 for the officials.

The Indian counterparts then offered Pakistan a ‘bail-out’ package amid the ruckus but the PHF flatly refused to accept the offer, or that is what we have been made to believe by the hockey administrators.

After a much sought-after audience with the prime minister, the federation received an assurance of a grant of Rs350 million — exactly half the amount they had initially desired.

But there’s another twist in the tale, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar has now asked for an audit report of the expenditures made by the PHF under the previous government and unless the federation succeeds in justifying the use and allocation of the funds, the new grant might not be released.

The prevailing situation is causing grief and disappointment to the hockey fraternity and players. The national players didn’t get any financial compensation or encouragement despite their miraculous silver medal effort in the Champions Trophy last December.

Now the players are forced to grapple for their daily allowances too and the apparent incompetence of the federation amid the stubborn stance of the government is clearly jeopardising their future.

The Greenshirts lost some competent players to the lack of funds in the recent past, a prime example being drag-flick specialist Imran Warsi, and the talented crop of youngsters like Haseem Khan, Muhammad Touseeq, Imran Butt, Muhammad Waqar, Ammad Butt and Arsalan Qadir might soon turn to Europe or the richly-rewarding Indian Hockey League.

Two national players — half-back Rashid Mahmood and forward Muhammad Rizwan — are already plying their trade in the Dutch League and turned their backs on Pakistan despite repeated pleas from the PHF.

Not sure one can blame them either, since professional sportsmen must not be asked to compromise on their livelihood.

While the federation can’t be in any way exonerated for the ruckus that they find themselves in, the fact is that recent governments have woefully neglected all sports sans cricket —the biggest revenue earner.

The high-handedness of the officialdom must end at the earliest, else hockey would surely join the ever-increasing list of sports of no interest in Pakistan.

Despite the odd spurts of brilliance, the national team has struggled to even come close to emulating the glory-laden days of the past and now finds itself on the proverbial ‘deathbed’.

Perhaps a major win can prove to be a shot in the arm for the game in the country, but then again without financial support, an Olympic or a world title remains a mere pipe dream.

A catch-22 seems to prevail at present — to achieve a major win, the team needs sustained finances but for sustained finances, they need to raise the profile of the sport in the country, which cannot be done without a major win — a terrible spiral from which there seems to be no way out for the hockey team.

All in all, there’s one tricky situation to deal with.

 

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