Horrendous! This is the only way one can describe the performance of Pakistan hockey in 2007 which saw the game’s fortunes slump to abysmal decline, both on and off the field.

The messy affairs of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) pushed the already struggling sport into deeper morass. The year began with a sensational saga when Akhtarul Islam, protesting lack of authority at his disposal, abruptly stepped down as the PHF secretary on March 21 to leave PHF president Zafarullah Jamali in an embarrassing situation. The Olympian quit saying he would rather leave than work as a “rubber-stamp and a dummy” secretary.

It was a real fiasco as Akhtar spilled the beans by revealing a number of damaging steps taken by Jamali which he alleged had harmed the game in the country. The former full-back not only levelled charges against Jamali of creating a mess, he also alleged that the PHF chief was involved in nepotism and favouring blue-eyed boys.

The appointments of junior team officials, manager Jahangir Butt and coaches Kamran Ashraf and Danish Kaleem were a few such issues on which Akhtar had objected because of technical and disciplinary reasons but Jamali overruled.

Akhtar also alleged at the time that a junior clerk, Qazi Masood, was obliged by Jamali when he was named as a candidate for the Asian Hockley Federation (AHF) treasurer. Jamali was also held culpable for nominating the former PHF secretary Lt Col Mudassar Asghar for the post of AHF secretary despite the fact that he was totally out of the picture for the past six years.

It eventually proved a whitewash for Pakistan at the AHF forum as none of the officials nominated were elected at the polls.

More drama was in store at the April 2 PHF elections. The polls clearly degenerated into a “selection” amid series of allegations from all over which accused president Jamali of violating PHF constitution.

Jamali, who was “named” the PHF president a year before on Aug 22, 2006 by the then Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to replace Tariq Kirmani, was formally installed as the hockey chief at the 2007 elections in Karachi.

Olympian Khalid Mahmood, who was the chief selector, took the reins as the new PHF secretary. But the polls were indeed a farce as six instead of two vice-presidents were inducted in a blatant violation of the PHF constitution.

The Congress members also objected on the approval by inducting the third associate secretary arbitrarily by Jamali whereas the PHF constitution allows election of only two in the federation. According to the constitution, any amendment could be made only if the Council approves it with a two-third majority before putting it for the approval of the Congress.

To make matters worse, the addition of officials was not even put on the meeting’s agenda before the election. Interestingly, Collector Customs, Mohammad Yahya was one of the six vice-presidents and the only person from a department to be chosen for that post.

Besides, Ramzan Jamali was elected as one of the three associate secretaries although he should have been declared persona non grata for revolting against the PHF and forming a parallel Sindh Hockey Association (SHA). Olympian Naveed Alam, who was involved in thrashing an umpire in the 1990s was also “selected” by Jamali as the third additional associate secretary.

The year 2007 also saw PHF introducing a new trend in Pakistan hockey — hiring of paid coaches and selectors. The trend came about after the team’s bronze medal finish in Doha Asian Games in 2006 under Shahnaz Sheikh who left after the completion of his tenure.

Islahuddin Siddiqui was named Pakistan’s first paid manager-cum-chief coach along with coach Manzoorul Hassan till the all-important 2008 Beijing Olympics. His very first year in the job proved a rocky ride as Islah failed to deliver on key occasions with the national team giving some of its worst-ever performances in the year.

The Olympian’s tenure got off to a nightmarish start when Pakistan finished sixth among eight outfits at the Azlan Shah Cup in Kuala Lumpur in May. The most humiliating of the defeats were the 4-2 drubbing by minnows Argentina in the fifth-sixth playoff.

Winning a lowly-rated four-nation in Moscow in July proved a bit of consolation for Islah but the second-rate opposition in Scotland, Russia and Ukraine hardly provided a test of any sort for the Asian giants.

Pakistan’s shortcomings were once again bared at the four-nation Good Luck Beijing tournament in August where Pakistan scrapped to a third spot to winners Australia and runners-up China.

Still reeling under the ignominious defeat at Beijing, the PHF surprised many by deciding to opt out of September’s Asia Cup, possibly in a bid to avoid further humiliation. While Islah kept mum over the odd decision, federation secretary Khalid also shied away from divulging the reasons.

Later, following a barrage of criticism, however, the PHF finally reversed its decision only to face yet another agonising loss in the Indian city of Chennai. Pakistan managed an ordinary sixth place in the 11-team tournament where greenhorns such as Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand were also in the fray.

The red-faced PHF came up with a rather absurd reply for the team’s poor show, saying it opted to participate in the cup pretty late only after learning that it was an internationally-ranked tournament.

Islah also blamed bad umpiring for the poor faring of the squad which, he said, had affected the team’s standing. Sanity, however, prevailed with the PHF secretary Khalid admitting that the team plainly flopped at Chennai.

And then came the real shocker. The much-awaited Champions Trophy was moved from Lahore for security reasons. A wave of suicide bombings compelled major teams like Australia and Spain to pull-out of the event and prompted the International Hockey Federation (FIH) to change the venue to Kuala Lumpur.

The green shirts faltered in a big way at the elite eight-nation trophy, going down to pathetic defeats against Germany, Australia, minnows Britain and managing sketchy draws with Malaysia and South Korea. Their only two victories were against Spain in the league match and later against Malaysia in the playoff where they fought tooth-and-nail to avoid becoming wooden spoonists with a 3-2 win over the hosts.

But the damage had already been done and the shameful performances resulted in Pakistan’s relegation from next year’s Champions Trophy.

Pakistan woes further mounted when they lost the privilege of being the automatic hosts of the Trophy after every two editions, mainly because of the lack of PHF’s ability to keep the FIH from snatching the honour which was bestowed upon them in 1978 for instituting the prestigious six-nation event.

Chief selector Khawaja Zakauddin took over as the makeshift team manager for the Champions Trophy after Islah’s injury during the camp. Although Jamali promised Islah’s return to ranks after his recovery from the ankle injury, the PHF is yet to announce his fate which leaves a question mark over his future.

Off the field, the PHF continued its incomprehensible and illogical decisions, none more absurd than the rigmarole over the five senior players — Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Waseem, Mohammad Saqlain, Ghazanfar Ali and Dilawar Hussain. It was Jamali himself who had announced to ban the five over skipping the Doha Games. He, however, took a somersault by recalling four of them with the temperamental Saqlain being the only exception.

Zaka also threw his weight behind the banned players who chose to ditch the team to make hay in the foreign hockey leagues during the 2006 Asian Games. The PHF eventually ate humble pie as only Dilawar and Ghazanfar joined the camp for the Champions Trophy while Sohail and Waseem once again snubbed the federation.

In between that string of debacles, the PHF maintained its chop-and-change policies with illogical selections in the team. While the selectors experimented with endless combinations including unknown underachievers, they ignored the real talent in the process.

At the junior level, team manager Jahangir and coaches Kamran and Danish remained largely unimpressive in the job. The juniors played against some clubs in Kenya to win all the five games and gave a mediocre performance in Egypt, winning two matches, an equal number of draws and losing one. It was followed by a third place finish at the six-nation event in Singapore.

The performance of the juniors was, indeed, deplorable given the fact that Jahangir fielded a number of overage players and some senior team members in the outfit.

Overall, it was a year of debacles, disappointments and frustration, both on and off the field. With no real hope on the horizon for Pakistan hockey, the dismal run is likely to continue in 2008 as well. That said, the sagging standards of the game may still be salvaged if PHF adopts merit, discipline and sincerity in team selection and in the running of its affairs.