ISLAMABAD - Olympian Naveed Alam rejected an inquiry committee appointed by Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Brig (R) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar saying Prime Minister Imran Khan should appoint a committee to ensure fair accountability.
Talking to The Nation, Naveed said: “Rasheed Junior, head of the committee, is a great man, but what is the purpose of appointing a committee, who will submit report to the same president, who himself is responsible for the hockey debacle and has inflicted huge damages to the national game. I appeal to Prime Minister Imran Khan to formulate a committee based on former presidents like Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, Akhtar Rasool, Samiullah, Farooq Umar, who may conduct detailed and fair inquiry and submit report to him to ensure ‘no NRO for culprits’.”
He said Shahbaz Senior has become godfather of Pakistan hockey and making all the decisions, which led the national game and team to such lows. Pakistan hockey team failed to win a single match in the World Cup and could score only 2 goals and conceded 12. The committee formed by Brig Khokhar included Manzoor Senior, Shahid Ali Khan and Majid Basheer, which has to report to him, how on earth a right decision can be taken by such a committee.
Naveed said eight years back, Pakistan team finished 12th and now again green shirts finished 12th. “Had they paid heed towards suggestions and recommendation given by the former greats, who know inside outs of hockey, today the things would have been completely different.
“Shahbaz hid things and presented completely different picture to Brig Khokhar. For the last four years in running, Pakistan hockey team failed to show any signs of progress, rather than focusing on training and ensuring maximum tournaments, the federation was busy in begging for funds. When they took over the reins of the federation from Akhtar Rasool, they had promised to arrange funs through private sponsors and not to rely on government grants, but after four years in office, they completely banked on government financial support.
“Now Imran Khan has taken over and all the Olympians have pinned great hopes in the PM to save Pakistan hockey and show the door to highly incompetent PHF office-bearers, who are more busy in enjoying perks and privileges and international tours. Same people were given major assignments, who were a disaster in the past and they kept on rotating their roles,” he added.
“Now lies bigger test as Olympic 2020 qualification is round the corner and I don’t think that the current management is capable of securing a place for the Tokyo Olympics. The government has to take swift action before it’s too late. Pakistan hockey team has already missed the Rio Olympics 2016 and there is every possibility, if same people run the the federation, Pakistan team might not be able to represent the country in 2020 Olympics. I request PM and IPC Minister to take action and appoint an ad-hoc committee to run the federation affairs and then conduct fresh elections, so that right person may run the PHF in a right way,” Naveed conclude.