Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) inked a Consultancy Agreement today to launch the first franchise-based hockey league in Pakistan. PHF, after a diligent process, spanning over months, selected an experienced team of consultants comprising former Managing Director and Project Director of the Pakistan Super League, Salman Sarwar Butt, and Haris Jalil Mir who is the former Chief Operating Officer of PSL-franchise, Quetta Gladiators.
The agreement with the consultants was signed at the PHF Headquarters in Lahore in the presence of senior officials from PHF comprising Chairman Selection Committee, Olympian Manzoor Junior, and Olympian Khawaja Junaid. The consultants will work alongside the PHF to design, develop, market, operationalize and manage the League through a League Office especially being established at the PHF HQ in Lahore.
At the signing ceremony, Asif Bajwa, Secretary-General PHF, stated:
“At this time the revival of hockey in Pakistan is of utmost importance. The agreement that we are signing today signals the beginning of an ambitious project in the country. We are very eager to have Salman Sarwar Butt and Harris Jalil Mir consultants of this project, considering their domestic and overseas experience in managing sports franchise leagues. We are endeavoring to build a world-class franchise hockey league to revive and upscale Pakistan hockey. We are entering a new era with a lot of hopes and we have with all sincerity selected the best professionals to undertake the challenging pursuit”.
During the signing ceremony, Salman Sarwar Butt said, “We are honored to partner with PHF in launching a franchise hockey league that will provide a platform to local top talent to showcase their skills alongside international players. We believe that there is a huge appetite for sports entertainment in Pakistan and long-term franchise leagues can optimally catalyze this potential if they are professionally developed, marketed, commercialized, and operationalized. We aim to work with the PHF to make the hockey league one of Pakistan’s leading sports products.”
Further details relating to the league will be released in due course.
