Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Thursday handed over a cheque of over 13 million rupees to Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for the payment of out-standing salary of former coach of national men’s hockey team, Siegfried Aikman.
“The board has initially given a cheque of Rs 13,013,432 for the foreign coach’s five months’ outstanding salary,” A PHF press release said.
The Dutch coach, who was appointed as the Pakistan head coach until 2026 in November 2021, resigned last month due to unpaid salaries for the past year.
Secretary General PHF Haider Hussain received the cheque from Director General PSB Shoaib Khoso. Member Selection Committee Olympian Shakeel Abbasi was also present on the occasion.
Haider said that he was thankful to Minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) Ehsan Ur Mazari and DG PSB for their efforts for the payment of foreign coach’s salary. He said that the development of the national sport was not possible without the support of the Gov-ernment of Pakistan, IPC Ministry and PSB.
“The PHF has ensured participation in interna-tional events despite the scarcity of funds. The na-tional team’s ranking is improving.
In the recently-held three international events, Pakistan claimed two medals. With this, the journey of the revival of Pakistan hockey has begun,” he added.
Shakeel Abbasi on the occasion lauded DG PSB saying he was doing an exemplary job. “He is play-ing an active role in the restoration of the national game, which is highly commendable,” he said.—APP
