KARACHI, Feb 15: Pakistan hockey administrators have taken another strange decision by appointing controversial Olympian Naveed Alam the new national coach in place of sacked Manzoorul Hassan for the Beijing Olympics scheduled for August this year.

The move by the top Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) hierarchy does not seem to make a lot of sense given Naveed’s controversial background and lack of coaching experience.

Naveed, who was once involved in the ugly incident of thrashing umpire Salman Zaidi while representing his department ABL at the national championship in 1990s, was banned by the PHF for his violent act.

And although he was nominated as the coach for China a few years ago, it is widely believed that Naveed doesn’t have the required stature and experience to train a national-level squad for the biggest sporting extravaganza.

Naveed is currently serving as an associate secretary of the PHF and has also been assigned to train youngsters at one of the hockey academies in the country. However, it appears quite odd that a current PHF official has been assigned to coach the Pakistan team and that too for an all-important event.

Manzoor, the sacked coach, said he was not informed by the PHF about the decision, either verbally or in writing.

“I have not been told why I have been removed. I never had any problems with my department PIA which was always willing to release me for national duty,” Manzoor told Dawn on Friday.

Naveed was “selected” by PHF chief Zafarullah Jamali as the third additional associate secretary last year which itself was a violation of the PHF constitution which allows only two associate secretaries to function at a time.

To make matters worse, Olympian Mohammad Shahbaz has been named as Naveed’s deputy despite being a senior former Pakistan player.

Apart from the seniority issue, the present set of coaches are not expected to go along too well since Naveed and Shahbaz have not been the best of friends in the past.

While Shahbaz made no effort to dispel the impression about his love-hate relationship with Naveed, he did say that he had accepted the job in “national interest”.

“I think one should work for the national cause whenever there is the need. And that is what I will do as Naveed’s assistant,” Shahbaz said diplomatically.

Interestingly, Shahbaz added that he didn’t have any clue about his tenure or whether he will be paid for the job.

“Frankly speaking, I have not been intimated about my tenure or whether I will receive any amount for the services. All I have been told is that I will have to serve as assistant coach,” said the former Pakistan forward.

Khawaja Zakauddin, the manager-cum-chief coach, said both Naveed and Shahbaz have been appointed after consultation with him. The official also believed that the pair have the “will and competence” to deliver at the forthcoming Olympics.

“It is a tradition that the PHF consults the manager before appointing coaches. I was consulted before their appointment and I am sure they will be able to deliver and that’s why they have been chosen for the job,” said the former chief selector who has replaced Islahuddin Siddiqui.

The PHF secretary Khalid Mahmood was not available for comments on the new development.