Pakistan hockey staff gamers rejoice after scoring throughout their emphatic 7-2 win over Malaysia within the Sultan of Johor Cup match held in Johor Bahru on Saturday. Photograph: X
The Pakistan hockey staff’s tour of Australia for the FIH Professional League has been overshadowed by a sequence of administrative failures that left nationwide gamers with out lodging, meals or fundamental logistical help, elevating recent considerations over athlete welfare and governance throughout the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).
Pakistan have been on account of open their Professional League marketing campaign towards Australia on 10 February, however the tour bumped into hassle even earlier than departure.
The squad’s preliminary journey plan was cancelled after Australian immigration authorities rejected visa functions, citing incorrectly stuffed varieties submitted by the PHF. After revised documentation and completion of biometric necessities, the staff lastly travelled on 5 February, flying to Australia through Thai Airways.
Nonetheless, the difficulties didn’t finish there.
On arrival in Sydney, the Pakistan hockey staff confronted a 12 to 13-hour layover earlier than their connecting flight to Hobart. With night-time airport closures and a protracted wait forward, gamers required in a single day lodging and meals.
In response to officers, no lodge bookings or meals preparations had been made by the PHF.
Left with no different, one of many gamers contacted mates residing in Sydney. These people arrived late at evening, organized meals for the squad and briefly took them to a public space close to Sydney Harbour earlier than returning them to the airport within the early hours of the morning.
The staff then continued their journey to Hobart, exhausted and underprepared, forward of a global fixture.
On reaching Hobart, the scenario worsened. The staff waited for practically three hours within the foyer of the DoubleTree by Hilton earlier than being knowledgeable that their reserving had been cancelled on account of non-payment.
Lodge administration reportedly informed the staff that any new reservation would solely be doable at considerably greater charges. PHF officers later conveyed that no funds have been out there to verify the reserving.
Because of this, gamers and help workers have been left with out lodging in another country. To make sure fundamental shelter and relaxation, the squad was compelled to independently organize low-cost Airbnb lodging, counting on private efforts relatively than official help.
The incident has sparked outrage amongst former gamers and officers, who described the episode as deeply embarrassing for Pakistan’s nationwide sport.
These weren’t vacationers travelling for leisure. The Pakistan nationwide hockey staff, comprising round 20 gamers, was representing the nation in one in every of world hockey’s elite competitions. As an alternative {of professional} logistical backing, they have been left depending on private contacts and self-funded options.
Such scenes have raised severe questions on athlete welfare, administrative accountability and the PHF’s capability to handle worldwide excursions.
Past the bodily fatigue, officers say the episode has had a demoralising affect on gamers, lots of whom have been experiencing Professional League competitors below intense stress towards top-ranked sides corresponding to Australia.
Critics argue that when athletes step onto the sector carrying Pakistan’s colors, they carry the pleasure of the nation—and it’s unacceptable that off the sector they’re left unsupported, unheard and unattended.
The episode has additionally broken Pakistan’s picture internationally, highlighting long-standing considerations over governance, funding and planning within the nation’s hockey system.
