The 3rd PHF Junior Super Hockey League will roll into action at the National Hockey Stadium, Lahore from today and will continue until May 8. Addressing a press conference here, Pakistan Hockey Federation Secretary General Asif Bajwa said that the main focus will be on tapping fresh talent for the national team, and strict measures are being taken to clamp overage players’ participation in the league.
Rana Mujahid, Secretary Punjab Hockey Association, was also present on the occasion. Bajwa further informed that eight teams have been lined up for the competition including Lahore, Quetta, Sialkot, Karachi, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar and PHF Academy. “For the first time, we are offering handsome money for the winners, which I believe is the most important factor of the league,” added Bajwa.
He said that all games will be telecast and the prize-money of Rs 1.5 million will be distributed among the players. He said that the matches will be held simultaneously on both the pitches and the winner will be awarded Rs 600,000, the runner-up will get Rs 400,000 while the third position holders will receive Rs 300,000. Rs 200,000 will be distributed among the players of the matches.
He further informed that Age Credentials Check Committee has been formed to check the ages of the players and if required, bone test will be used or the officials may resort to facial scrutiny to disqualify the over-age players. He said that any overage player found would be pushed out of the tournament and strict action will also be taken against the team officials. Rana Mujahid Ali will be the convener of the Age Credentials Check Committee, Khalid Bashir and Arshad Chawdhry are its members, he added.
For the smooth conduct of the event, the PHF has also appointed a panel of Technical Officials, comprising Rana Mujahid Ali (tournament director), M/s. Zahid Afzal and Muhammad Akhlaque as ATD, Rashid Mahmood Butt (umpires manager), Saeed Ahmed (assistant umpires manager), Qadeer Ahmed, Muhammad Shafique Bhatti, Javaid Iqbal and Hassan Askari (tournament officers), Arif Qayyum, Haroon Saeed, Rana M. Afzal, Qaiser, Saeed Ahmed, Zaheer-ul-Haque and Syed Faisal Shah are judges and Ghufran Ahmed, Shahid Pervaiz, Muneer Ahmed, Mahmood, Haider Rasool, Kamran Hussain, Rana Muhammad Liaqat, Muhammad Mushtaq, Naveed Ahmed and Atif Malik (umpires).
