ISLAMABAD: Former captain Olympian Shahbaz Ahmed Senior on Wednesday appreciated Pakistan Sports Board for issuing a special grant to Pakistan Hockey Federation to ensure the national team’s participation in the next Asian Champions Trophy but proposed that more funds should be provided on a yearly basis to put hockey back on track.
The PSB on Tuesday issued a check worth 25 million rupees to PHF to make arrangements for the Asian Champions Trophy, slated to be held in Chennai, India, in August this year.
Shahbaz Senior, who captained Pakistan to the 1994 World Cup win, termed the grant a “welcome sign”. However, he said that he believed Pakistan hockey was in need of more financial support.
Shahbaz said that it was heartening that the government has given much-required financial support to the national game, but currently, it needs support from all quarters.
Shahbaz said that the hockey team was a force to reckon with in the past, but unfortunately, priorities were changed in the past 30 years. The old hockey was replaced with modern hockey, but Pakistan failed to adapt to the new changes.
The former skipper said that now, Pakistan has to inject more money into hockey. It would have to adopt a realistic approach and move forward step by step and once again raise itself a formidable side. Pakistan’s first priority should be becoming Asian Champions and breaking into the top ten sides of the world.
He said that a substantial amount should be reserved in the annual budget to put hockey back on track.
PCB Should Support Hockey
He suggested that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should also step out and ask each profit-making Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise to contribute at least twenty million rupees after every edition. They generate huge incomes every year. This amount should not be a big issue for them. The revival of hockey was a national cause, and they should contribute to that.
