No former player in run for PHF president slot

ISLAMABAD: The new president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) will not be amongst the former renowned international players as the authorities are purely focusing on having a good administrator for the coveted post.

‘The News’ has learnt from well-placed sources that the Ministry for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) is all set to send a panel of three names within the next couple of days and out of the list one would get the go-ahead from the prime minister (PM) who is also the patron-in-chief of the hockey federation.

“We have shortlisted three names at this point of time for the post of PHF president as was directed by the prime minister. Most probably the summary to this effect will be forwarded to the PM Office on Thursday,” the official, when questioned, told The News.

When requested to share the panel members’ names, he said it would be premature to share these names till the time we forward the summary to the PM for final approval.

‘The News’, however, has learnt that the directives received from the PM Office indicate that the panel should not have any tried and tested former international player. The efforts should focus on having an administrator who has the urge to streamline game’s affairs in the country.

“One thing is certain that we are not focusing on any of the former international hockey players. According to the directions received from the top, our efforts will be to pick an administrator who is interested in the game and wants to contribute to uplift standard of the game in the best possible way. As far as former players are concerned, that experience has not paid off in the past. So you can say that the future PHF president will be an administrator who really wants to contribute to Pakistan hockey,” well-informed sources said.

According to the sources, a political, hockey-loving personality from Balochistan, one of the hockey administrators from KP is also in the run for coveted post. It is believed that once the PM finalizes or approves a name from the panel of three, the matter will be forwarded to the PHF Congress and a vote of confidence will be sought from the members.

“The PM has already given the go-ahead to have a new PHF president and directed the concerned ministry to take necessary measures to implement PM’s orders. The Ministry for IPC is expected to forward the panel within the next two days following which the process will start,” an official said.

He added that all possible steps will be taken to implement the PM Directives at the earliest. “It is only a matter of days. Hopefully, there will be a new president of the federation in a couple of weeks,” he said.