Daily Times

Like 2015, the year 2019 will also go down in history as one of the darkest chapters of Pakistan hockey. Pakistan’s failure to qualify for the second successive Olympics marks a calamitous new low. The agonising reality is that Pakistan hockey has acquired a ‘loser’ image in world hockey and become a synonym for defeat, mediocrity and failure. It is now the Sick Man of global hockey and it’s incorrigible and confirmed Pauper. It has reached its nadir. After their failure to make the grade in the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, the hopes that Pakistan harboured for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 were dashed last week when the Netherlands crushed them 6-1 in the second qualifier to confirm their berth at the Olympics 2020. Though Pakistan did show some spark in the first qualifier when they had held hosts Holland to a 4-4 draw, but the Green Shirts were no match in the second. The failure to qualify for the second Olympics in a row seems to be the final nail in the coffin of Pakistan hockey.

It is lamentable that a country who won Olympic gold thrice, World Cup four times, Asia Cup thrice, Asian Games gold record eight times, Asian Champions Trophy gold twice, FIH Champions Trophy gold thrice and remained unbeatable at regional level for many years have become one of the lowest teams in the world: 17th in world hockey.

For the last many years, the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has been unable to give maximum international exposure and facilities to senior as well as junior players. What more disturbing is that the crippling financial state of the sport has finally struck a killer blow to the country’s national game. However, such has been the state of Pakistan hockey over the past two decades that it came as no shock to all and sundry when the team failed to qualify. For the mandarins who run the hockey show, though, the priorities lay elsewhere. The harsh truth is that the national sport has been reduced to a game of musical chairs, where the officials and former Olympians of yesteryear have taken turns to deprive hockey of both prestige and funds. At the same time, the country’s obsession with cricket and the government’s indifferent attitude have not helped as the corporate sector and well-wishers have switched their loyalties to the gentleman’s game, the highly successful Pakistan Super League being a prime example, relegating the national sport to the background.

It is also very unfortunate that the PHF, over the years, has become politicized and nepotistic, just like its cricket counterpart. In the national sphere and the sporting arena the root of our dilemma is the notorious system of patronage and imposed cronies, to the exclusion of merit and professionalism. Under the powerful patron’s benevolent gaze, the pick and choose appointees can survive scandals and failures that would crush an ordinary mortal. These are times when one fails to figure out what is keeping Pakistan hockey alive. In other countries, the people running the hockey affairs contribute by taking professional decisions and by executing them with competence rather than on the basis of personal preference and bias. But, frankly, we are not such a nation. The statements given by the top PHF officials in the national media, aim at to make people believe that the national outfit are doing well, and that there is light at the end of the tunnel. The fact is that the way things are being conducted, the days ahead are anything but that.

Pakistan hockey, which remained up in the clouds for more than three decades, is not the same force that it used to be. Pakistan hockey structure lacks in terms of skills and competitiveness. The very base of the game has shrunk beyond belief. Pakistan hockey’s slump is not quite as dramatic or sudden as it now seems to be. It’s been a slow and painful decline that began after 1994. Cricket, with better financial rewards and glamour, slowly replaced hockey in schools and colleges. For the last two decades, the government has done nothing seriously for promotion of the national sport of the country but wants results. What a pity. To remain consistent, Pakistan hockey needs improvement all over at every tier of the game at the domestic level to show an upward graph.

The decline of Pakistan hockey also coincides with the advent of artificial turf that gained currency in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It changed the dynamics of Asian hockey, rendering the dribble-and-dodge game of short passes that Indians and Pakistanis were so good at completely obsolete. It also cut the careers of players by half, and demanded greater physical fitness than before. The Asians have not been able to match the fitness levels of Western players. Also, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has over the decades changed some basic rules of the game that the Asians had mastered in their heyday. This also proved to be a disadvantage.

Building a strong team is not an overnight process and it takes years to put together a balanced side keeping in view the modern approach to competitive international hockey, and the exacting scientific preparations that the international teams now favour. The standard of the game is changing so rapidly that the gap between the best and the second in line has narrowed considerably. In fact, the difference between the four top teams has become so small that whenever any two of them meet it is very difficult to predict the outcome of the game. Failure to qualify for the Olympics is the most forgetful incident for Pakistan hockey. What is worse, Pakistan hockey seems to be on an irrevocable downward slide. And realistically speaking, one should not harbour any hopes of the national team doing any better or revive itself to its former glory in coming years with the cronies running the show and incapable officials handling the affairs of the national sport of the country.

To rise above again, Pakistan hockey requires strong financial backup, commitment and self-belief. Only hard and incessant efforts lead to success. In the absence of these, we should not dream of reaching skies. The future of hockey in Pakistan heavily depends on paying attention to grassroots hockey. Pakistan had been a fantastic hockey nation for decades and ruled at international level by virtue of their talent and skills and now they are struggling to make their mark at the highest level of the game and they should pay attention to their grassroots level in order to broaden the base of the game. Pakistan hockey needs adequate hockey activities at early level which is only possible by evolving a system which could ensure that hockey gets due attention among the youth. It is so painful that country’s national sport, having so much pride and passion, has gone to the dogs.