KARACHI: Former Pakistan hockey skipper Abdul Haseem Khan announced his retirement on Wednesday, holding the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) responsible for the dismal situation of the game as well as his retirement. During a press conference at his residence in Karachi, he levelled allegations of biases and presence of syndicates within the selection committee of the PHF. The former captain accused the current selection committee of mistreating him. “I have been bearing the attitude of the selection committee for long and now it is the time that I speak the truth and reveal that a lobby was active within the selection committee,” he said. “The current selection committee headed by former Olympian Hasan Sardar has been biased and unfair to the players who have been performing since long,” he added.
Haseem also complained that he was not selected in the recently held Nishan-i-Haider Tournament at home and Asia Cup in Bangladesh. “I was the captain of the team but still not selected for the tournament held last month and also for the Asia Cup and not even for the Four-Nation Hockey Tournament which is going to be held next month,” he lamented.
He refuted the impression of his poor performance and alleged that the selection committee head had always been pulling him out from the national squad on the pretext of poor performance. “You can observe my performance during last tour and other matches, if I had lacked anywhere, I wouldn’t be doing this press conference today,” he remarked. “I had been waiting that the PHF selection committee members might go on merit and select players fairly on fitness and performance,” he said, adding that his patience went in vain. “Again, they did not select me, saying that my performance is not good, so I have decided to retire from the hockey,” maintained Haseem.
“I have never demanded captaincy and have always played for Pakistan,” he said, adding that he won’t be joining the team in any circumstances under the current selection committee. “I know I will be treated the same afterwards,” he viewed. When contacted, Hasan Sardar rejected all the allegations against him, saying that Haseem was dropped of the Asia Cup simply because of his poor performance. Fuming Sardar adopted a harsh tone saying that who the hell was Haseem to level allegations against him or the selection committee. Sardar further said that he was a top scorer in the game and he knew the game very well. Responding to a question about the Haseem’s presser, he said that the discipline committee of the board could take action against Haseem.
Published in Daily Times, October 26th 2017.