Govt to release Rs200m grant to PHF next month, says Khokhar

LAHORE: President, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Brig (retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar said on Saturday that government has already approved a grant of Rs 200 million for PHF which will be released in a month time to help the national federation to carry out hockey activities smoothly.

“So far the grant could not be released due to shortage of funds with the Government,” he told APP on Saturday. PHF Chief made it clear that Government has not stopped PHF grant based on the performance of the national team in the Champions trophy and said a wrong impression has been portrayed in a section of press in this regard.

“We are thankful to the Government for its patronage to the PHF and without this continuous support it is not possible for us to revive and promote the game,” said PHF Chief. Answering a question he said he was the elected President of the PHF and his specific mandate is to work for the betterment of the game by taking all the stake holders in confidence. Brig Khalid Sajjad expressed the optimism that Pak team will be on victory stand in the Asian Games being held in Indonesia next month. “We know it is not going to be a easy event for us as Asian teams have progressed a lot and even Malaysia and Japan will be tough opponents,” he added.

To a question he said India will be the main threat to Pakistan in the Asian Games and efforts will be made to design a special training programme in consultation with Pak team management to beat India and to brighten chances for winning the Games hockey title.

He said PHF was mobilizing all the resources for the revival of the game and it was endeavoring to come up with a combination which should be capable enough to live up to the expectations in hockey events home and abroad.

PHF Chief said Pak hockey team will definitely be performing better in the Asian Games as it has learnt a lot from its participation in the Champions trophy.

“Though we finished sixth, out of the six teams champions trophy but participation in such a high profile event helped us in noticing gray of team and to take remedial measures for ensuring a far better show in the Asian Games,” he asserted. Brig Khalid said playing against world’s top most teams in the champions Trophy has exposed our players to high profile international experience besides infusing confidence in them.

“Before their participation in the Champions trophy some of the players of the team did not have the opportunity to play against world’s best teams and even then they struck quite satisfactory performance and surprised Olympic Champions Argentina with a fine victory,” he said adding “Unfortunately the team was not able to achieve further success in its coming matches as players did not have sufficient international match practice against World top teams”. “Asian Games are a very important assignment for us as achieving desired results will guarantee our direct qualification to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” said the PHF Chief.

He said PHF was expecting a lot from foreign coach and home assistant coaches of the team to revive the sagging fortune of the team and to infuse a new life in it with the aid of their experience.