23 PHF employees not paid for five months

KARACHI: Twenty three employees working in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) have been deprived of their salaries for five months and are facing difficulties in meeting their families’ needs in times of such extreme inflation as the PHF high ups haven’t paid any attention in resolving their issues, The News learnt on Monday.

The month of Ramadan is only a week away and PHF employees are going through agony. They have been getting financial aid from their relatives and friends. The majority of the 23 employees get less than Rs50,000, and due to lethargic attitude of PHF administration they are suffering.

The aforementioned employees are posted in PHF’s Karachi and Lahore offices. Olympian Qamar Zia expressed concern on the issuem, saying that these employees are the backbone of Pakistan hockey who run all the affairs of the national game across the country. “If they would not be paid on time how they would work for the betterment of the hockey,” he said.

Qamar requested the PHF high ups to resolve the issue before Ramadan. The PHF has been facing financial crisis for many years, but the situation hasn’t been as bad as it is now because of the power struggle between the top officials. The employees said that they are forced to borrow money from relatives to bear the expenditures of food, utility bills, transport, and house rent.