Pakistan Hockey Federation Chief Resigns After Banning Skipper Butt For Criticism of PHF
Karachi: The crisis in Pakistan hockey deepened on Thursday when national federation President Tariq Bugti resigned following mismanagement during the recent tour of Australia that left players on the streets, but not before captain Ammad Shakeel Butt was handed a two-year ban for his criticism of the PHF. Bugti said he sent his resignation to the federation’s chief boss, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
“I have sent my resignation letter to the Prime Minister but I urge him and Field Marshal Asim Munir to conduct an impartial investigation into the entire situation that occurred in Australia during the FIH Pro League hockey,” he said.
Bugti said one of his last acts as President was to “imposed a two-year ban on national team captain Ammad Shakeel Butt from domestic and international hockey for bringing Pakistani hockey into disrepute.”
Butt criticized PHF in Lahore on Wednesday, stating that players were forced to “clean the kitchen and wash the dishes” before heading out to compete during the team’s tour in the FIH Pro League, where they lost all their matches against the home team and Germany.
This happened after they spent hours on the road after PHF denied them entry to the hotel allocated to them due to non-payment of advance payment, despite receiving the necessary funds from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).
After returning to the country, at least nine players, led by Butt, demanded the removal of the team management and the current PHF leadership.
Butt also claimed that majority of the players are yet to receive their daily allowance from PSB and PHF for the last one year.
Bugti placed the blame for the debacle on the PSB, emphasizing that the Board of Directors had undertaken all arrangements for the tour and was “responsible for what happened there”.
However, he did not give a clear answer when asked about the check of 1 million rupees that PSB sent to PHF to cover hotel accommodation expenses.
Another development was that the head coach of the team, Tahir Zaman, said that he was ready to resign.
He accused the players of being undisciplined and claimed that the captain “freely used abusive language towards others, which affected the team’s performance”.
Pakistan will have to travel to Egypt after four months to participate in the World Cup final qualifying tournament.
