PHF plans school, college drive as 60,000-70,000 youngsters expected to take up hockey

LAHORE: Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) ad-hoc president Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani said on Friday that around 60,000 to 70,000 youngsters were expected to start playing hockey across the country under a new programme being launched with provincial education boards.

Speaking to reporters at the National Hockey Stadium in Lahore, where the national team’s training camp for the FIH Pro League is under way, Mohyuddin said the federation would distribute free hockey kits at schools and colleges to encourage participation in the under-14 and under-16 age groups.

In collaboration with provincial education boards, we have planned to distribute free kits at school and college level to persuade students to start playing hockey.

he said.

Soon 60,000 to 70,000 youngsters will begin playing the game.

He said the PHF was preparing to take what he described as drastic steps at the grassroots level as part of a longer-term effort to revive the national sport.

Ad-hoc role and elections

Asked how he intended to pursue long-term plans while serving in an ad-hoc capacity with the main responsibility of holding fresh elections, Mohyuddin said he would remain in office for as long as the prime minister permitted.

The prime minister appointed me as PHF president on an ad-hoc basis, so until he allows me, I will continue to work.

he said.

But I work every day considering it my last working day, so I am working with full force.

On the scrutiny of hockey clubs, which is required before PHF elections can be held, Mohyuddin said directions had already been issued to the relevant quarters, but he did not share further details. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who is also patron of the federation, had assigned him the task of managing day-to-day affairs and conducting elections, though no deadline had been announced.

Team preparations and federation priorities

Mohyuddin said the federation’s immediate attention was on the senior team’s preparations for Pro League matches in Belgium and England.

The federation is providing the best possible training and coaching facilities to the players.

he said.

He added that the under-18 side was also preparing for the Asia Cup in Japan later this month.

The U-18 camp is in progress in Islamabad and I am taking daily briefings on both the senior and junior camps.

he said.

He also described the World Cup, scheduled for August in Belgium and the Netherlands, as an important assignment and said he hoped Pakistan would field a competitive team.

Past affairs, funding and women’s hockey

When asked about earlier allegations of corruption and mismanagement in PHF matters, Mohyuddin said those issues were being examined by other institutions.

I am looking forward to what happened in the past being seen by other institutions. I am not responsible for those old things.

he said.

He said there was a need for greater transparency in the federation, but added that the current priority was to ensure Pakistan’s participation in upcoming international competitions.

We are not charging anything from the PHF accounts and we are not taking salaries for our work for hockey.

he said, adding that the ad-hoc body had also raised funds through private business groups.

On the absence of women’s hockey activity, he said the federation planned to organise college-level competitions in the near future.

This was Mohyuddin’s first visit to PHF headquarters since taking office in February after former PHF president Tariq Hussain Bugti resigned. Asked why he had come to Lahore after a considerable delay, he said all parts of the country were equally important.

Lahore is not the whole of Pakistan. Gilgit-Baltistan and other areas are equally important for me.

he said.

The PHF headquarters has appeared largely inactive since Bugti’s resignation, with no senior official regularly working from Lahore and administrative matters mostly being handled from Islamabad, where Mohyuddin also serves as secretary of the Inter-Provincial Coordination Ministry.

Responding to another question about the absence of any investigation into alleged mismanagement during Pakistan’s recent Pro League tour of Australia, Mohyuddin again said past matters were being examined elsewhere and said his focus was on promoting hockey in Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Kashmir, Balochistan, Sindh and other parts of the country. He added that the Punjab government had already set aside substantial funds for sports promotion in the province.