Former hockey captain proposes names for PHF secretaryship

LAHORE—Former Pakistan Hockey captain, Rasheed ul Hasan has proposed the names of four former olympians from which one suitable will be appointed as the Secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation.
He proposed the names of former olympians, Khawaja Zaka ud Din, Khalid Mahmood, Dr Tariq Aziz and Col (retd) Mudassar Asghar for the job and said all of them are equally good to run the affairs of the national federation because of their standing and expertise in the game.
The former Olympian appealed the President,PHF, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali to appoint a long term Secretary of the PHF to revive the sagging fortunes of the hockey.
“President PHF who is himself a former hockey player is a keen lover of the game and it is expected that he would be able to lift the game out of present gloom”, he told APP here on Tuesday.
Rasheed said it is the right time to appoint a full time secretary who has the experience to make efforts for helping the game to get back its glorious past.
He added all the four candidates are rendered meritorious services for the cause of the game in the past in different roles and one of them should be given a chance to work for the betterment of the game.
Rasheed, a former half line player known for his agility and sprint which gave him the title of a forward, said hockey needs a dedicated secretary because interim setup is serving no purpose.
He said Pakistan suffered its worst ever defeat in the recently concluded Doha Asian Games at the hands of little known China and were knocked out of the golden medal run.
“It is sorry state of hockey affairs but President, PHF Jamali is a hope in the darkness and it is dire need of time to appoint a Secretary who could make decisions in the larger interest of the game “, he added.
He urged the PHF to conduct regular country wide trials to identify fresh talent which should be groomed under the able guidance of former olympians.
“We must form four to five junior strings through a regular process of talent hunting and it is the only way to bail out from the present disappointing situation in hockey”, he said.
The former Pakistan captain said defeat in the Asian Games is a eye opener and if remedial steps are not taken well in time hockey can continue to experience similar set backs in international events.
“At the moment there is no back up of present members of the hockey team because there is no system to produce replacements and that is why our hockey is still revolving around 40 to 50 players which is the main cause of its down fall”, he said.
He said President, PHF has assured the former hockey olympians that he would be unfolding a revival plan for the hockey as the game badly needs a system to re-organise it on solid lines.—Online