Khokhar secures 2nd term as PHF chief

ISLAMABAD: Brig (r) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar has been re-elected as president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for the second term in office on Tuesday.

Less than three years back, Khokhar took over the reins of the PHF for the first time following a planned coup against 1982 World Cup winning captain Akhtar Rasool’s federation.He later sought a vote of confidence from the PHF Congress, days after Akhtar Rasool was asked to resign by Nawaz Sharif’s government.

Khokhar, who is a close relative of Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal, again took over as the federation’s president for second the term.Soon after his election, the PHF president said his effort would be to improve national team’s performance and for that very reason, the federation has hired the services of foreign coach and a trainer.

Pakistan national team has finished 7th in the just-concluded Commonwealth Games. World’s best teams including Germany, Holland, Argentina, Belgium, Spain, Ireland and Korea were not part of the Games.

Ranked 13th in the world, Pakistan team has struggled hard in recent past to match the best in the world.Khokhar, however, hoped that national team would perform well in the forthcoming Champions Trophy to be held in Holland in late June and later in the Asian Games in August-September.

“We have focused our attention on team’s performance in the Champions Trophy and later in the Asian Games.”Journalists present on the occasion questioned total chaos in majority of Punjab districts and Islamabad during regional hockey elections.

The newly-elected president thanked the house for reposing confidence in him.Chief Election Commissioner Chaudhry Mohammad Riaz conducted the elections.Ch Shafiq represented the Pakistan Olympic Association in elections while Azam Dar was the Pakistan Sports Board’s nominee.

The other office-bearers elected for the next four years (2018-2022) included Khawar Anwar Khawaja (vice president Punjab), Mohammad Saeed Khan (vice president KP), Chaudhry Ismail Gujjar (VP Balochistan), Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah (VP Sindh), Shahbaz Ahmed (secretary general), Muhammad Ikhlaq Usmani (treasurer).