PHF Executive Board meeting today

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) 29th Executive Board meeting will be held on Thursday (today) in Islamabad.

The meeting will be presided over by PHF president Khalid Khokhar, and PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed will brief the meeting.

The meeting will discuss establishment of a think tank, Pakistan Hockey League (PHL), expected visit of World Hockey XI to Pakistan, international events, and jobs opportunities for players. Sources said that PHF wanted to include some hockey greats in its think tank so that they could contribute to the promotion of the national game.

The sources said that Khwaja Zakauddin, Islahuddin, Shahnaz Sheikh, Rasheed Junior, Manzoor Junior, Saleem Shairwani and Qamar Zia would be part of the think tank. But it has been learnt that some former players have refused to be part of this think tank because of their differences with PHF. These include Olympian Samiullah and Manzoorul Hasan.

All PHF high officials and provincial associations’ secretaries will participate in the meeting. The PHF Executive Board will review the expenditure of national competitions and international engagements of senior and junior teams.

PHF is desperate to organise PHL and invite World Hockey Eleven in the coming months and work has been started in this regard. The meeting will review the possibilities of both events in the country. PHF has contacted world famous players and requested them to visit Pakistan for playing as World XI. Besides, it has contacted a large number of foreign players to participate in the PHL.