PM to meet hockey team on February 11

KARACHI: PHF has finally received the invitation of the meeting with the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, which will be held on February 11 instead of previously stated February 1, ‘The News’ has learnt.
Informed sources said that PHF received the invitation through the Ministry of IPC.
Pakistan women cricket team has also been invited to meet the PM at the same time.
The meeting was due since the Green-shirts won silver medals in Asian Games and Champions Trophy last year. Pakistan women cricket team won gold medal in Asian Games.
The meeting had been postponed thrice due to one or the other reason.
The PHF officials and the players have a lot of hopes because the PM is also the patron-in-chief of the federation and his approval is required for getting the required funds.
The PHF has been facing a financial crisis since last year due to which members of the national team have remained deprived of their salaries.
Shahnaz Sheikh-led coaching and management team has also not been paid its salaries and other financial benefits since it was appointed.
The previous management of PHF had been given massive funds but the performance of the national team remained pathetic as the Green-shirts failed to qualify for the 2014 World Cup and missed various international events.
Pakistan reached the finals of two big hockey events within three months without having played any international match for preparation.
The PHF’s current management claims that it is its achievement that the Green-shirts, after a number of unsuccessful journeys, managed to come to the winning track.
But its opponents among the former Olympians say that PHF’s current management has been working for the past seven years. “Only two faces have been changed and the same group is still occupying the seats at PHF through fake elections,” said a disgruntled former Olympian. “The credit of winning silver medals goes to Islahuddin and Shahnaz Sheikh, whom the PHF had declared ‘old vehicles whose prime time has passed’ before it reconciled with them,” he said.
The meeting is crucial as far as future planning of the national team is concerned as the Green-shirts are to play the qualifying rounds for Rio Olympics 2016 in June and July in Belgium this year.
The former players said they expected the PM to resolve the financial issues of PHF, release the salaries and prize money of the members of national team as well as the management.
The national game of hockey has been divided at regional and district level as hundreds of players and dozens of hockey clubs are in isolation due to some narrow-minded PHF officials and their wrong polices, said the former Olympian.