Committee to recommend sacking of top PHF officials

KARACHI: An inquiry committee entrusted with the task of ascertaining the reasons behind Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the hockey event of Olympic Games 2016 in Rio de Janeiro has concluded that top Pakistan Hockey federation (PHF) officials are responsible for the debacle.
Sources told ‘The News’ that the committee which was formed on the instructions of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif – the chief patron of PHF – has urged the premier to sack the federation chiefs and appoint new officials to run national hockey.
According to the sources, the inquiry committee that includes a few former Olympians is likely to submit its findings to the government soon.
The committee was formed in the wake of a disastrous end to Pakistan’s campaign to earn a berth for next year’s Rio Games earlier this summer. Three-time former champions Pakistan flopped miserably in the Olympic Qualifiers in Belgium and failed to make the Olympic cut for the first time in history.
The committee believes that PHF president Akhtar Rasool and secretary Rana Mujahid were responsible as they failed to ensure much-needed preparations for the Olympic Qualifiers.
In its recently-held last meeting in Islamabad, the committee also concluded that the PHF officials were unable to lift the overall standard of Pakistan hockey.
The committee has also recommended that the government should bring in dedicated officials to run Pakistan hockey in a professional manner.