PHF employees in Lahore, Karachi not paid for two months

KARACHI: The employees of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in Lahore and Karachi have not been paid salaries for the last two months, ‘The News’ learnt on Wednesday.

Informed sources said that PHF had been facing a shortage of funds for many months. For the same reason, the activities of Pakistan team at international level have been affected. The Green-shirts have missed some international events.

The PHF has not received any big amount from the federal government, so its financial crisis is getting worse day by day. The staffers in Karachi office had been facing the late salary issue for many months but now those working at the Lahore office are also facing this problem.

The PHF bore the expenses of the first phase of the training camp of the senior team for Sultan Azlan Shah hockey tournament by getting loans, the sources said. It is pertinent to mention here that Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, which was scheduled to be held next month in Malaysia, has been postponed because of the outbreak of coronavirus.

Meanwhile, the PHF has not yet decided whether to start the second phase of the training camp or not. It announced that the second phase will be held from March 5, but the national selection committee, which was to be announce the names of the players on March 3, has not yet done so.

Khwaja Junaid, the head coach of Pakistan, was not available for comment. The sources said that the head coach was waiting for the final decision of PHF secretary Asif Bajwa about the training camp.

The training camp for the junior team is also due to be started to prepare for Junior Asia Cup 2020 and Junior Hockey World Cup 2021. Sources in the PHF said that due to financial crisis and postponement of Sultan Azlan Shah tournament, the training camp of national senior team was likely to be postponed.