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Amid disputes within the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), the governing body for the sport of hockey, the International Hockey Federation (FIH), has asked the Pakistan government and two rival groups managing the federation to resolve their differences or face immediate suspension.
Notably, PHF is controlled by two rival groups — one headed by Tariq Hussain Bugti and the other by Shehla Raza. The split took place after the sacking of former President Brigadier Khalid Sajjad Khokar earlier this year.
In a letter written to the PHF, the FIH set April 25 as the deadline for the body to determine one genuine body that can properly represent the country internationally.
Failing to do so, the Pakistan team’s participation in the upcoming Sultan Azlan Shah Cup (May 4-11, Malaysia) and the Nations Cup (May 31-June 9, Poland), will linger in doubt.
A look at the letter by FIH to PHF
“It is imperative that the situation is resolved [within the PHF] by the end of this week and it is determined who will be sending the teams to the upcoming tournaments. We request that the agreed outcome and details of the official representatives are clearly communicated to us, FIH, by the end of the day on Friday [April 25],” the FIH letter to the PHF read (via Dawn).
“Failure to reach an agreement between the two [rival] parties by this time will mean we will have no choice but to write to the Pakistan government or the Pakistan Olympic Association, requesting their intervention and resolution,” the letter added.
“For clarity, allowing one of these organisations to send a team to these tournaments [in Malaysia and Poland] will not necessarily lead to automatic recognition of this group as the official Pakistan Hockey Federation.”
“We will need to go through the correct process to recognise them. But the urgent priority for this [ongoing] week is to resolve the situation such that the Pakistan athletes are able to compete in these upcoming tournaments,” the letter concluded.
The FIH issued its ruling in response to a request for guidance from the organizers of the Azlan Shah Cup, prompted by the situation in Pakistan hockey where two rival factions sought to send their respective teams to represent Pakistan.
Both factions have conducted training camps for the upcoming event in Malaysia, with the Shehla group conducting their camp in Karachi.
