PHF acting secretary, coach reject allegations

KARACHI: The acting secretary of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Akhlaq Usmani and national team coach Rehan Butt on Wednesday rejected the allegations of Khalid Bashir and Khawaja Junaid.

While addressing a press conference in Lahore, they blasted former players Khalid and Junaid for hurling “false accusations to confuse the hockey fraternity”.“Khalid is criticising the PHF now but why didn’t he say anything while he was the associate secretary and was enjoying foreign tours?,” questioned Usmani. “They just want to confuse the hockey fraternity by hurling false allegations,” he added.

Both Usmani and Rehan termed Khalid and his companions responsible for Pakistan hockey’s decline. Usmani recalled that Khawaja Junaid was the team’s coach during the previous PHF setup and continued to hold the position for over a year in the current regime. But he turned against the federation only after he was removed due to poor results. He also requested the Federal Minister for IPC Fehmida Mirza for a meeting.

“We have been sending requests to the IPC minister for a meeting but to no avail so far,” he said. “We want to present all the financial records to the honorable minister.”He also invited the Olympians and media to see the audit report at the PHF office.