The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Friday appointed two-time World Cup winner Saeed Khan as the manager and head coach of the national men’s team.
The appointment has been made for the International Hockey Federation (FIH) Pro League where the team’s first match is scheduled for February 2 against Argentina.
Khan, who was appointed by PHF president retired Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, was a member of Pakistan’s World Cup winning team in 1978 and 1982.
Previously, he has also served in other coaching assignments with the country’s national team including in 1994, when the team won the World Cup and Champions Trophy.
His last assignment was as the head coach of the women’s team for the Asian Games qualifiers in Thailand in January 2018.
In Oct 2017, Khan was accused of harassment and assault by a former goalkeeper for the women’s national hockey team Syeda Sadia. He had rejected Sadia’s allegations as “baseless”, claiming that she was trying to “create a scandal” because she was dropped from the team. Later, an investigations committee formed by then Punjab sports minister Jahangir Khanzada to look into the harassment allegations had declared the claims “false and unfounded”.
In December 2018, Pakistan hockey team manager Hasan Sardar’s resignation came mere days after head coach Tauqeer Dar and assistant coach Danish Kaleem stepped down from their respective roles after the team’s dismal performance at the recently held 2018 Hockey World Cup in India.
