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PHF Committee Takes Rigging to Next Level in Islamabad Hockey Association Elections

While we see occasional glimpses of brilliance from Pakistani hockey stars, the Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) state of affairs is a mess. In hockey associations across the country, every decision is based on instructions given over phone calls and not the ground realities. One such incident surfaced on Saturday when a PHF committee had to decide on the list of stakeholders to run the Islamabad Hockey Association (IHA).

Interim General Secretary of PHF, Haider Hussain, and the nominated officials of the scrutiny committee, Olympian Nasir Ali, Rana Liaquat Ali, Muhammad Yaqoob, and Ajmal Butt, were present for the event.

Before getting to the point, let me explain how things work out at association elections. A PHF committee scrutinizes different clubs present for the voting process. There are usually two parties contending for the elections and the winning group names the President, General Secretary, and other important posts in a hockey association. Now, before the voting begins, all bogus clubs – present only for the voting process without playing any regular hockey throughout the year – are identified and are denied the chance to vote.

The group with the most votes – every club gets to cast one vote – wins the elections and a letter is issued by the PHF-appointed committee, notifying the results. The winning group gets to run the hockey association.

Islamabad Hockey Association

On Saturday 13 August, a similar process was carried out, with two parties contending for the elections. One was a coalition of Faisal Hockey Club and Nishtar Hockey Club – the group was led by Sohail Akram Janjua and co. – while the second one was an alliance of Islamabad Tigers and Red Tigers led by Dr. Ahsan Tanveer. The voting process took place at the Community Center hockey ground Aabpara, Islamabad.

The PHF committee rejected a couple of clubs’ authenticity and thus they were denied the right to vote. The results came in favor of the Nishtar Hockey Club’s group with a margin of 11-6, sources confirmed. The chairman of the committee announced the results in the presence of all the voting members, and the losing party accepted defeat graciously by congratulating the opponent clubs.

Note here that the notification of the results was not issued right after the elections, rather it was announced that a letter in this regard will be issued later. The following governing body of IHA was announced by the Interim General Secretary of PHF, Haider Hussain, in his concluding speech:

– Nasir Mehmood, President
– Sohail Akram Janjua, General Secretary
– Waseem Baig, Finance Secretary
– Naveed Ahmed, PHF Representative

The committee members then left for the bus stand in G-9, Islamabad, where they allegedly received a phone call from PHF. That call changed everything as the losing party was called to the bus stand and they were notified that they had won the election.

Here’s how the new body stacks up:

–  Arshad Mehmood, President
– Naveed Ahmed, General Secretary
– Naseer Mughal, Finance Secretary
– Kanwar Moiz, PHF Representative




ProPakistani tried to reach PHF’s Secretary, however, he wasn’t available for comment. His say on the matter will be incorporated once we get his response.

Sohail Akram Janjua, the candidate for IHA General Secretary and an international referee termed the development as a grave injustice, saying, “The elections were rigged at the behest of PHF and reversing the results despite openly announcing their group as winners at the venue of the elections does not make any sense. Depriving him and his team of a win cannot be justified.”

Naseer Mughal, the candidate for Finance Secretary, refused to comment on the matter despite repeated attempts.

As absurd as it may sound, this is the reality of how things work at the PHF and this is how associations are run and controlled by the greats of the game, who, for some reason, don’t want hockey to flourish in the country. No wonder Islamabad doesn’t produce hockey greats with only a few names coming out of the ranks to play hockey for the country in a long time.

Petty politics has already destroyed our beloved game of hockey and such acts of corruption at all levels show that the national game isn’t going to improve in the near future. If things like these continue to happen, hockey is bound to suffer and so are hundreds of youngsters who aim to emulate the likes of Hassan Sardar, Samiullah Khan, and other legendary hockey players.

They call me the Sports Guy!



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