State of hockey

Hockey is the national sport of Pakistan. Once upon a time, the Pakistani hockey team was the best team of the world .After remaining at top of the hockey world for more than three decades, Pakistan is at its lowest rung today. It is lamentable that a country which won the Olympic gold three times, World Cup four times, Asia Cup thrice, Asian Games gold record eight times, Asian Champions Trophy gold twice, FIH Champions Trophy gold three times and remained unbeatable at regional level for many years is now a lowly team.

The main reason behind the decline of hockey is that the government is not giving as much importance to hockey as it is to cricket. After bagging the runners-up trophy at the 2004 Champions Trophy, the decline of Pakistan’s field hockey began. Pakistan participated in the 2006 and 2010 World Cup but was eliminated at the group stage while in 2014 edition; the team was not able to even qualify for the championship. The government’s interest in the game has always remained low. The incomes of the team members were rarely increased and were seldom on time. The lack of interest and financial backing is what caused the game to decline at an even faster rate.

Rumaisa Shoukat Suleman Khan

Karachi