Oltmans in two-tournament contract with PHF

ISLAMABAD: Roelant Oltmans has signed a two-tournament contract with the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) following Spanish Juan Escarre’s reluctance to go into a short-term contract with the PHF.

Oltmans earlier had expressed his inability to join the Pakistan team due to some reservations about the offered contract clauses. “Only the other day he intimated PHF that he would be available for coaching only for the two coming international events -- the Azlan Shah Hockey and later for the Nations Cup to be held in Poland.

He is expected to join the national hockey camp in Islamabad on April 22 to start training the team ahead of the Azlan Shah Hockey,” a PHF official said.

The News has learned that Oltmans will charge Rs100,000 per day besides boarding, lodging, and ticket from the PHF.

“He will only be there for two tournaments. It all depends on how Pakistan hockey shapes up in the coming tournaments before we decide on future events which also include some Asian tournaments.

The PHF will decide later on offering a fresh contract to Oltmans.” On the failure of the PHF negotiations with Spanish top coach Escarre, the official said he was demanding a two-year contract.

“The negotiation broke down with Escarre due to the condition he set to sign the contract. We cannot offer such a long contract considering the federation’s financial condition and uncertainty on the team’s future commitments.”

Meanwhile, Zeeshan Ashraf, Usman Sheikh, and Asif Ahmad have been appointed as assistant coaches to Oltmans for the two coming international events.

Ghulam Jilani will be the goalkeeping coach while Shahid Faqir will be the physical trainer. Dr Asad Abbas and Abu Zar have also been deputed with the Pakistan team.

The training camp for the Azlan Shah Hockey starts at the Naseer Bunda Ground on April 16 with Azlan Shah Hockey set to begin in Ipoh (Malaysia) from May 4-11. As many as 57 players have already been announced for the camp training.