LAHORE – The Pakistan Hockey Federation Executive Board has appointed Khawaja Junaid as manager of the senior team, while Michel van den Heuvel has been retained as head coach until the 2012 Olympics. The decision was taken in PHF’s Executive Board meeting, with President Qasim Zia in the chair.
Addressing a press conference here after the meeting, PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa said that Ajmal Khan and Shahid Ali Khan will assist Michel van den Heuvel in the senior team management. Shahid Ali, who was chief coach in 2010, makes a return after the team management was removed last year for a poor show in the World Cup. “He has the best goal-keeping abilities and is the best choice so far and using his skills for the Olympics would be very beneficial,” said Bajwa.
He further stated that Rana Mujahid has been named as the head coach of the junior team while Danish Kaleem, Anjum Saeed and Ahmed Alam will assist him. They have been assigned until the qualifying rounds of the 2012 Asia Cup and World Cup. Bajwa informed that the sports ministry supported the PHF in the appointment of Michel van den Heuvel and his immediate assignment is the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
“The training camp of the senior team will be starting in the first week of April to prepare for the Azlan Shah Cup,” he said. Bajwa said that the executive board took some important decisions and hopefully they will be helpful for the game. He further said that in line with the International Hockey Federation’s directives, it is mandatory for every player, team and department to acquire a no objection certificate before taking part in any sanctioned tournament around the world.
“Any player, team or department participating in any non-sanctioned tournament or without NOC in a sanctioned tournament will face a ban that will be enforced all over the world,” he added. He added that players and departments would be banned for one year while a team would be pushed out of the circuit for two years in case of non-compliance.
Bajwa further stated that the domestic calendar will now have to be approved by the international federation or regional confederation and any one found violating the decision would be dealt with strongly. Bajwa further stated that the house has also decided to give contracts to only 25 players on a three-month basis. The players will be finalised by the selection committee and the team managements in the next two to three days.
“We will take into account the players’ performance before considering them for the contract,” he added. Talking about the issues that arose during the recent national championships, he said that the organisers will transfer the accounts to their district regional associations in case there is a sponsorship of one million, and if the sponsorship goes beyond one million, the federation will keep the accounts.
