Shabbir Ahmed
WHEN the word Field Hockey comes up in international media, it is followed by the names of some countries like Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Australia. Be it news related to world cup, champions trophy, summer Olympics or any other major event, we often hear the aforementioned names. Although it is the national game of Pakistan, but we rarely see Pakistan’s name in the context of hockey or even if there is some news about Pakistan hockey, it is often about defeats, scandals, lack of funds and so on. Pakistan has won the Hockey World Cup a record four times, champions trophy and summer Olympics three times each. It was Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Air Marshal Nur Khan who coined the idea of organizing a Hockey World Cup and Champions Trophy but that was all in the previous century. It is quite hard to digest how a country has lost its way in the world of Hockey, which was once the leader of the Hockey playing nations, the trend setter and the rule maker.
Pakistan Hockey has touched its lowest ever level over the past few years. The year 2019 was not different from the past two decades or so. Pakistan failed to qualify for the summer Olympics 2020 earlier last year. The story of World Cup 2018 was also abysmal. Although Pakistan only just qualified for the upcoming World Cup by the skin of their teeth but then the lack of funds made it difficult for the team to participate in the tournament. However, minimal finds were arranged at the last moment and the national team went to play the World Cup. Unfortunately, their performance revealed the state of affairs Pakistan Hockey is going through at this time. They finished 12th among 16 teams which is the worst ever performance of Pakistan in the World Cups. The period from 1970-95 is termed as the golden era of Pakistan hockey. Apart from a couple of Asian level tournaments, Pakistan has not been able to win a major hockey tournament since then. We are talking about a team that has won World Cup four times and remained runners up twice out of their 12 appearances. Ironically the same team could not qualify for the 13th edition of the same tournament due to poor performance. Until 1994, they have won Champions Trophy – the second prestigious tournament after World Cup — three times and remained runners up four times out of 16 editions. However, they have not even qualified for the tournament on five occasions since then. Their performance also declined in the Olympic games. They have not even qualified for the final since 1984.
Financial issues have always dogged PHF. Governments used to support hockey to some extent until the 1990s. With the passage of time the Federation demanded an increase in funding from the government which is logical considering how elite sports bodies function throughout the world and the economics behind it. However, most of the time it did not get the needed support. Due to this neglect and the declining performance, unlike the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), PHF could not evolve into a revenue generating entity. The funding of the two sports bears no comparison. For the financial year 2018-19 PCB had an income of Rs 6.4 billion and expenses amounting Rs 5.7 billion resulting in a net income of Rs 700million. On the other hand, PHF annual budget is barely Rs150million. The disproportionate popularity of cricket is a major gripe among hockey players and administrators.
Hockey also suffers from another problem: the need to provide adequate coaches and facilities at school level. Schools are in dire need of cash for textbooks and teachers are paying less and less attention to sports. Compounding these woes even further are the usual farces and palace intrigues that plague Pakistan sports. Once the undisputed champions of the hockey world, Pakistan has fallen on hard times and is currently 17th in the International Hockey Federation rankings. Mismanagement, underfunding and a steady decline in grassroots talent since the 1990s are some of the main reasons behind this fall. Government needs to realize the positive impact sports have on nation building and national pride. Hockey is our national sport. It needs special attention in this testing time. Government should allocate sufficient funds for the promotion of hockey. If the new government give hockey as much value as cricket, the PHF may also become a revenue generating federation in a short span of time. Sports expenditure is a form of investment. If the federation and players are financially stable, it will attract youth which will refrain them from indulging in unhealthy activities. In developed countries, sport is often seen as indirectly related to the national development. Unfortunately, at the moment, Pakistan does not even have a Sports Minister and in the absence, the sport portfolio is lumped in with other government departments where sport is merely seen as a voluntary enterprise and luxury. It is obvious that the role of sport in the national development efforts has not been well articulated and understood.
—The writer is freelance columnist.
