Mumbai, Feb 24 (IANS) A disgruntled Pakistan hockey team left for Egypt for World Cup qualifiers under a head coach banned for life over his blunder in the last global event the team played, a news report said on Tuesday.

The players are not happy with the interim arrangements for the team as the federation has not arranged for a foreign coach and instead appointed a Pakistani coach who was banned for life in 2023, Telecom Asia Sport said in a report.

“Pakistan hockey players led by Ammad Butt are not happy with the interim arrangements of the team as they wanted Dutchman Roelant Oltmans as the head coach, but the new interim head of national hockey appointed Khawaja Junaid, who was banned for life in 2023,” sources told www.telecomasia.net.

The interim president, Mohiyuddin Wani, listened to the players but advised them to go with Junaid as there was not enough time to appoint Oltmans for the World Cup Qualifiers, the report said, quoting sources.

The report claimed that skipper Ammad Butt contacted Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Moshin Naqvi to intervene, but he did not respond as he was busy with some work as the Interior Minister.

“Since most of the appointments in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and in the team are political, Naqvi kept himself away from that. Naqvi is not very popular in the Muslim League (Nawaz), which heads the coalition government, while Naqvi has the backing of the Pakistan People’s Party,” said sources.

In 2023, Junaid was banned for life from taking part in hockey activities after an inquiry committee held him responsible for the national side’s unceremonious ouster from the 2022 Asia Cup following an eight-month investigation.

Pakistan were knocked out of the tournament after Junaid Manzoor’s equaliser in a crucial encounter against Japan was ruled out due to the presence of an extra player on the field. The Telecom Asia Sport report said the result, 2-3 in Japan’s favour, confirmed Pakistan’s elimination from the Asia Cup — with the team needing at least a draw to go through — as well as ended their chances of qualifying for the World Cup 2022.

Pakistan, a four-time World Champions, is going through a tough time with their hockey team failing to qualify for the 2022 and 2014 World Cups, while they finished 12th and last in the 2010 edition in India and 12th in a 16-team competition in 2018 in India. Junaid has various stints as Pakistan’s hockey coach, but never succeeded in guiding Pakistan to a major title. He has a close affiliation with the PML leaders.

The interim arrangements were made after the Pakistan team was left in the lurch in Canberra, where the players claimed they were not put up in a proper hotel. Skipper Butt even claimed that hed to struggled to get the players’ daily allowance,s which was less than the amount approved by the Pakistan Sports Board for foreign tours.

–IANS

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