PHF president likely to participate in FIH meeting in June

KARACHI: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Brig (rtd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar is expected to participate in the FIH disciplinary committee meeting next month in mid-June in Switzerland, ‘The News’ learnt on Tuesday.

Sources said that the PHF president would present Pakistan’s case and try to get the penalty imposed on Pakistan for not honouring its Pro League commitment reduced.

PHF is preparing its case with the help of an advocate. It will argue that it was because of lack of money that the country failed to participate in the Pro League, so it is not possible for the PHF to pay the huge fine.

The PHF, already facing a financial crisis, has been asked to pay an amount roughly equivalent to Rs45 million by the FIH. The PHF president will also try to convince the committee to receive the fine in installments.

The PHF president will also discuss with the FIH high officials Pakistan’s participation in Olympics 2020 qualifying rounds as FIH has excluded Pakistan from the pre-qualifying round. The event will start from June 15 in France and has low-ranked teams such as Ireland, Egypt, Scotland, Singapore, France, South Korea, Ukraine and Chile.