Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announces the national hockey team squad for the 2024 Paris Olympics Qualifier which will take place in Oman from 15 January 2024.
Ammad Shakeel Butt was announced as the captain of the team, while Abu Bakar Mehmood will act as the vice-captain.
One questionable omission from the team is ex-captain, Umer Bhutta. According to reports, Bhutta wanted to leave the team after the recently concluded Asian Games, but there’s been no confirmation of this news.
Surprisingly, Shahnaz Sheikh is named as the head coach of the national team, while Pakistan’s recently appointed Dutch coach Roelent Oltmans is not with the squad due to unknown reasons. Superstar ex-player, Shakeel Abbasi, is second-in-command to the head coach.
The 18-member squad was selected after a training camp at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Ground in Islamabad Sports Complex. The training camp had a wide variety of players, through which the best possible talent was picked for the Olympic qualifiers.
PHF has had a change in leadership, as Tariq Bugti was made the President of the Federation last week. Bugti has taken many anti-corruption steps as he has ordered an inquiry into the PHF funds management from the year 2008 till 2022.
PHF’s bank accounts are frozen, and they’ll be operatable once Bugti allots a professional as the new signatory of the accounts.