By Staff Reporter
LAHORE: Pakistan’s hockey federation president resigned on Thursday, blaming mismanagement by the state sports board for a funding crisis that marred the national team’s participation in an elite international league and forced players to wash dishes during a tour of Australia.
Tariq Hussain Bugti, who has led the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) amid the sport’s long decline, announced his departure at a press conference in Lahore, saying he had already submitted his resignation to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. The move came a day after Sharif ordered an inquiry into complaints from players about shambolic arrangements during the second leg of the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Pro League in Hobart, Australia, where the team suffered a string of defeats.
Bugti pinned the blame squarely on the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), saying funds allocated for the Pro League had been released to the board but were not handled properly, leading to logistical headaches on tours of Argentina and Australia. The federation had provided advance schedules for the trips, he said, but financial oversight lay with the PSB. “After seven years, Pakistan hockey finally got a chance to play in the Pro League, but due to a lack of funds, we struggled to meet obligations,” Bugti told reporters.
Bugti demanded an independent probe into the affair, dismissing a committee set up by the PSB as having acted as “judge and jury.” He also touched on internal discord, alleging that team captain Ammad Shakeel Butt had pressured players by showing them messages from influential figures, prompting the federation to impose a two-year ban on Butt. The prime minister had earmarked Rs250 million for hockey, Bugti noted, with the money disbursed to the PSB. “Despite this, the hockey federation faced major logistical challenges abroad,” he added.
Simply stepping down was not enough, Bugti said. “Pakistan’s reputation has been damaged, and accountability must be ensured.” The resignation caps a bitter public spat between the PHF and the PSB over the handling of the Australia tour, where Pakistan’s Green Shirts returned home after losses to Germany and Australia, capping a winless Pro League campaign. While the PHF insisted that logistical and financial duties fell to the PSB under directives from a Senate committee, a PSB official countered that adequate funds had been supplied and raised questions about the federation’s management.
Both sides have expressed support for the inquiry ordered by Sharif, though some observers have urged a fully neutral investigation to guarantee transparency. Federal Minister Rana Sanaullah has formed a committee to examine the matter. Team captain Butt, speaking separately, lambasted the PHF for failing to secure proper hotel accommodations, leaving players in what he called substandard lodgings in Hobart, Tasmania. Players were compelled to prepare their own breakfasts, wash dishes and launder clothes, Butt said, conditions that undermined their performance. “I am tired of the tension which we have suffered in the last year,” Butt told AFP. “First I had to fight for the daily allowances and now this shabby treatment on the tour.”
Ahead of the Australia leg, players boycotted a training camp over unpaid daily allowances of $110, their sole income without match fees or central contracts. Butt recounted how the team, upon arriving in Sydney en route to Hobart, wandered the streets without a booked hotel. “When we reached Hobart, the management told us it did not have sufficient funds to pay the hotel charges and we had to live in a guest house,” he said. “The players had to prepare their breakfast, do dishwashing and wash clothes. In this situation what kind of performance could a player produce for the team?” Pakistan lost all eight of their Pro League matches, falling 3-0 and 3-2 to Australia, 5-2 and 3-1 to Germany in Hobart, and earlier to Argentina and the Netherlands in the first round in December.
Separately on Thursday, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, who also chairs the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), met with the hockey players to address their grievances. A statement on the PCB’s X account said the players detailed the “unpleasant incidents” from the Pro League, prompting Naqvi to voice regret over their “ill treatment.” “[We] will accommodate the hockey players in every way,” Naqvi was quoted as saying. He pledged full cooperation to “streamline matters of hockey” and ordered arrangements for tickets, kits and hotel stays ahead of World Cup qualifiers in Egypt.
Naqvi directed that a training camp for the players begin on Friday, with all preparations completed by Thursday night, the statement said. He also instructed immediate medical treatment for injured players and urged the team to concentrate solely on their game. “Pakistan’s respect is above all. We will not allow the tarnishing of its honour under any circumstances,” Naqvi said.
According to the statement, Naqvi distributed cheques of 1 million rupees each to the players as a reward for their runner-up finish in national tournaments. “The hockey players thanked Naqvi for meeting and encouraging them,” it added. Earlier, Naqvi posted on X that he would not take up the PHF presidency but “we will assist players till this turmoil ends.”
Field hockey remains Pakistan’s national sport, though cricket has long eclipsed it in popularity. Once dominant, with three Olympic gold medals and four World Cup titles, Pakistan has slumped to as low as 14th in global rankings. The team failed to qualify for the past three Olympics and placed 12th at the 2018 World Cup. Next month, Pakistan heads to qualifiers in Egypt aiming for a spot at the upcoming World Cup, co-hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium in August.
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