Pakistan hockey selectors, officials sacked

Karachi, March 11: Pakistan Thursday sacked its hockey team officials and dissolved the national selection committee after the four times champions had their worst ever finish in the World Cup.

The Pakistan team finished last in the World Cup in New Delhi after losing to 2-3 to Canada in the 11th-12th place playoff here Thursday.

"Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Qasim Zia has dissolved the team management and National Selection Committee after the poor performance of the team in World Cup," a PHF statement said Thursday.

Team management given the sack included manager Asif Bajwa, coach Shahid Ali Khan and assistant coach Shafqat Malik, while selection committee included chief selector Hassan Sardar, Rana Mujahid Ali, Khalid Bashir, Farhat Khan and Muhammad Shafiq.

Qasim said that after the team returns home, the PHF will call its executive board meeting and will hold an inquiry for the poor performance in the world cup. He also clarified that Bajwa will remain PHF secretary.

Former greats, meanwhile, launched scathing criticism of the PHF for the World Cup debacle. Islahuddin Siddiqui, former Pakistan captain, said the PHF should sack Bajwa as secretary, and held him responsible the team's performance.

Akhtar-ul-Islam, another former Olympian and an ex-secretary of the PHF, agreed with Islah and said all the culprits responsible for the "embarrassing show" should be punished.

Muhammad Saqlain, former Pakistan captain, said the PHF has let Pakistan down and should be dissolved to allow a new management to rebuild the national team.