Zahir Shah calls for efforts to improve hockey standard

RAWALPINDI: The 66th National Hockey Championship Director and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Hockey Association President Zahir Shah called for total revamping in order to bring the domestic standard to the level where it was 25 years back.

Zahir Shah said that five years of systematic and continuous efforts were required to bring the game at par with the best days it had seen in the past.

“I am really concerned to see the game’s standard not only on the field but off the field also. Though the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has started making efforts to bring the game back to its feet, a systematic approach for the next four years is required to make this happen.”

As Sunday was observed as an off day in the National Hockey Championship, Zahir Shah in his exclusive talk to ‘The News’ said that as tournament director he has suspended one umpire for failing to come up with the required standard. “Besides that, I have suspended one manager and two players from one match each for not following the rules. Managers have no clue about the rules and are trying to get involved in protest without following the procedure. I have suspended MPCL manager for one match for that very reason. A few of the umpires turning up for the championship are not fit enough to officiate matches. They should go through fitness tests ahead of such an important event before turning up to officiate matches.

“Players need to act in a mature way as any misconduct would have serious consequences especially when they go on play international hockey. Those handling teams must know and follow rules instead of turning up for such an important event out of nowhere. The PHF I hope would make arrangements to educate these officials and even ask units to make necessary arrangements for the purpose,” he said.

He also proposed at least four age-based national hockey events in a year. “The year should start with national under-16, followed by under-18, under-21 and then National Championship. In between the PHF should also hold the inter-provincial national events. Once a player represents in junior events, he should not be considered for the same age event again. The more age categories events the PHF will organise the better it will be to broaden the pool of players. As a KP Hockey president, I offer my services to help out PHF in its efforts.”

He said he would also suggest that once a player gets dropped from the probables’ list, his inclusion in the next camp should be based on genuine reason. “You can’t include a player in the camp without his showing form, fitness and ability to match the best. The selection out of nowhere only damages the overall standard.”