Ex-Olympians ask PHF secretary to resign

LAHORE: Former Olympians have demanded the president and secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation to step down after the side missed out on an opportunity to directly qualify for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.

Pakistan lost the semi-final of the Asian Games 2018 hockey event to Japan 1-0 on Thursday. Anjum Saeed said that the side was eliminated from the competition because the hockey federation did not work on the grassroot level.

“The officials of the hockey federation should step down,” he said. Hanif Khan and Danish Kaleem also expressed their disappointment over the side’s defeat in the semi-final stage. “The Pakistan Hockey Federation has made the sport a joke,” said Hanif.

“The federation did not work for the team despite having so much money,” Kaleem pointed out. Pakistan will play against India for the bronze medal. The final will be played between Japan and Malaysia who eliminated India in the first semi-final of the event.

The only goal scored came in the 18th minute as Japan’s Shota Yamada scored from a penalty corner. Pakistan will play against India for the bronze medal on September 1. Pakistan was unbeaten before taking on Japan in the semi-final fixture. They started off their campaign with a 10-0 win over Thailand and then defeated Oman by 10-0. The side trounced Kazakhstan by 16-0 and clinched a 4-1 win over Malaysia. Pakistan defeated Bangladesh by 5-0 in the last game of the round-robin stage.