THIS refers to your editorial ‘Hockey’s Olympic challenge’ (July 16). One cannot expect a miracle from Pakistan hockey at the London Olympics for team has been giving erratic performance since winning the gold at 2010 Asian Games.

It is because the current Pakistan Hockey Federation’s set up is not capable of handling affairs and is inept to the core.

However, you have argued that team is not expected to fare well for it had little opportunity to practise on the blue turf, which has replaced traditional green synthetic surface. The blue surface has not been introduced by the International Hockey Federation a long time ago therefore it will certainly be a level playing field. Every team would be playing on that surface and more ‘practice’ on that sort of surface cannot be expected to be a plus point.

A hockey pitch is a hockey pitch and colour hardly makes any difference unless a player is colour blind. There might be a rare case of a Pakistan player with colour blindess, but I am sure the whole team cannot be colour blind.

Pakistan team captain Sohail Abbas has also termed the blue surface a refreshing change and that it would not affect players’ performance. It is the texture, material or thickness of the synthetic surface which matter most not the colour.

You have also pointed out that Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Australia have been dominating the sport since the introduction of the artificial surface, perhaps implying that it was the synthetic turf which is the cause of their rise in hockey.This argument is partially correct. Had this been the case, then Pakistan would not have won the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, and World Cup in Sydney and Champions Trophy in Lahore, both in 1994, on artificial surface. In fact, it is bickering and insincere approach of the PHF which is the cause of our downfall in hockey.

Meanwhile, former Pakistan captain Islahuddin Siddiqui’s criticism (July 2) for not recalling Imran Warsi and Mohammad Saqlain is nothing but hilarious. Imran Warsi has been out of national hockey for the last so many years. He only plays league hockey and is busy in modelling in Russia, which makes him a good choice for Pakistani ramps and fashion shoots rather than hockey field. Saqlain’s violent behavior is not a secret and even Islahuddin did not include him in the Sydney Olympics squad in 2000 for indiscipline.

It is true we need sincere hockey officials in the PHF. But neither criticism for the sake of criticism is productive nor one should indulge in promotion of some ageing former players who are notorious for indiscipline and deceiving the hockey officials.

MOHAMMAD RIAZ Karachi