KARACHI: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has succeeded in convincing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to approve a Rs200 million grant for the promotion of hockey.
The grant is expected to be handed over on Wednesday at a ceremony arranged for rewarding the winners of the hockey final in the South Asian Games (SAG) — the PM had earlier announced Rs500,000 for every player and official who went to India and bagged gold.The new management of the PHF, which was selected after the previous management failed to take hockey to the heights expected from it, was granted Rs350m earlier to clear its dues and hold national camps for future tournaments and a PHF official revealed that the new Rs200m grant was approved because the PM trusts the current management.
“The previous management had misused the funds provided to them, hence the PM was unwilling to sanction them more money,” said the PHF official. “The current management, which oversaw the successful completion of the national championship and sent a team which managed to win gold at the Games, has earned the trust of the PM.”
The official further revealed that the PHF has requested the PM to appoint an official to regularly provide updates on the usage of the fund so that no amount is spent on anything other than the development of hockey in the country.Meanwhile, PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, who will be present at the ceremony along with PHF president Brig (retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, said that the funds would lead to more international tours for the team.
“The grant will, first and foremost, be used to clear any previous dues to the players,” Shahbaz told The Express Tribune. “After that we will try to organise as many international tours as possible for the senior and junior sides to give them the exposure they need before the Hockey World Cup qualifiers begin next year.”
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