Hockey World League fiasco: Fact-finding committee blames the Greenshirts

Says the players were distracted by social media on the eve of their matches.

KARACHI: The Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) fact-finding committee has blamed the players in their initial report for their poor performance at the Hockey World League (HWL) that ruled the team out of next year’s Olympics.

The three-member committee comprising Olympians Shahid Ali Khan, Muhammad Akhlaq and Mansoor Ahmed held players responsible for the loss as they were unable to perform according to their potential and were engaged in inessential activities.

According to the details received, the committee said that due to the absence of check and balance by the team management, the players were busy surfing social media all night prior to their matches, which affected their performance the next morning.

On the other hand, the players claimed that the government’s lack of interest in their wellbeing was the main cause of demotivation and deterioration in their performance.

The Greenshirts added that they were not given enough facilities and proper training. “We were constantly shifted from one place to another, and were hardly given enough facilities to train for the mega event,” said captain Muhammad Imran.

The committee will resume its investigation on Friday with video analyst Abuzar Umrao, team doctor Dr Asad Abbas Shah and selector Musaddiq Hussain. Later, resigned selectors, management and consultant coach Tahir Zaman will be called up for further inquiries.

Meanwhile, the committee formed by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif will meet PHF officials again on Thursday and will then submit a final report to the patron-in-chief.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd,  2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.