Samiullah hails ‘Hockey Pro League’

KARACHI: Pakistan’s former captain Olympian Samiullah has welcomed FIH’s decision to introduce “Hockey Pro League” from January 2019 and said it would promote hockey in the world.

The new league will see top nine teams from around the world play each other, home and away, every year — a total of 144 games.

The fixtures will take place in national stadiums from January to June.

FIH has informed PHF that Pakistan (ranked 13th) are among the nine selected teams.

The other teams are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, England/Great Britain, Germany, India, the Netherlands and New Zealand.

However, Pakistan’s ‘Home Matches’ will be played in Scotland.

Scottish Hockey Union has agreed to host Pakistan’s home matches in Glasgow.

Samiullah said that the decision would increase the popularity of the game in the world.

He hoped that its coverage on electronic media would enhance the attraction of the game.

He said that Hockey Pro League would benefit Pakistan as foreign teams who have been refusing to come to Pakistan for bilateral series would play against Pakistan in Scotland.

With a large Pakistani community in Scotland, the stadium is expected to be packed with passionate supporters whenever the Green-sticks are in action.

Samiullah, who was dubbed as the Flying Horse in his heyday, said that weak nations in hockey such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Thailand and Afghanistan should also be accommodated so that this beautiful game could further spread.

Meanwhile, talking about the World Cup qualifiers in England, he said that the matches would be tough and Pakistan’s management must not be lazy at any moment because all teams in the event, especially in Pakistan’s pool, are tough.  Pakistan should go in all matches with proper strategy. The Netherlands and India are among the toughest teams, he added.

He pointed out that Pakistan’s performance in the recent times has not been very good. “It was, kind of, average. So the management should be alert and attentive. The players should be mentally tough. And the management should give them a plan for each opposition,” he said.