ISLAMABAD Federal Minister for Sports Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani said on Tuesday that he had requested President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Qasim Zia not to accept the resigns of the national players. The players had tendered their resignations after producing shameful performance in the World Cup 2010 in which Pakistan earned last position in the 12-nation international hockey fixture. He was talking to reporters at Pakistan Sports Complex after meeting with the 17 members of the national hockey team in his office. However, he said that skipper of the team Zeeshan Ashraf could not join the meeting owing to some personal commitments at abroad. The Federal Minister viewed that national outfits could not deliver in the World Cup up to the mark. It was bad luck as the team was also a bit under pressure after losing to arch rivals India in the opening fixture of the tournament, he asserted. Jakhrani said while replying a question that the players were not forced to announce retirement from international hockey. It was collective decision of all the players after losing to Canada on golden goal for 11th position tie. I listened to each player and did not found anything regarding match fixing, he added. The greenshirts put up their best efforts to produce acceptable results but they failed to deliver despite showing excellent skills. I will also meet with the former Olympians and ask them to suggest for the promotion of national game in the country. I will look into the affairs of PHF deeply, he said. Responding to a question, the Minister said that the PHF had separated the post of manager from coach as previously Asif Bajwa was performing both the duties. However, an elected man cannot be sent back home. Bajwa is an elected secretary of the federation and we will look into this issue before taking nay decision, he viewed. President PHF, Qasim Zia, secretary Ministry of Sports Anis-ul-Hussain Mosavi, Director General Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) Amir Hamza Gillnai, Chairman Probe Committee Beijing Olympic debacle Rana Farooq Saeed and 17 players including senior Sohail Abbass, Wasim Ahmed, Shakil Abbasi, Salman Akbar and Rehan Butt were present in the meeting. Later, Shakil Abbasi said that there was no match fixing in the World Cup 2010. Unfortunately, we could not perform well in the competitions. All the boys were united in doing well at the tournament. We are Pakistanis and willing to show remarkable performance. We tried our best and no one could question our intentions, he viewed. On this eve, Rehan Butt said that it was bad luck that the national team lost. Our joint resignations prove that we were united in everything. We failed to tackle our opponents in the tournament, he said.