ISLAMABAD, Sept 4: A three-member Senate Sub-committee on Sports on Thursday recommended the formulation of a new sports policy and called for increasing the allocation of funds for those sports federations producing effective results.

The recommendations were forwarded by the sub-committee of the Senate Standing Committee on Sports which was chaired by Senator Enver Baig with two other members Tariq Azeem and Tahir Mashadi.

The committee reviewed the performance of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF).

President PHF Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali told the committee that he was not aware of its earlier meeting on Sept 1 otherwise he would have definitely attended.

Regarding Pakistan’s dismal performance at the Beijing Olympics, Jamali admitted that the nation was bitterly disappointed for which he had even tendered an apology on behalf of the federation.

Pakistan finished eighth among the 12-nation hockey playing countries in the historic Olympic Games.

Citing reasons for the abysmal display by the hockey team in Beijing despite having the potential to do well, the former premier said that there were errors in selection of the team in Lahore and they did not have a strong left wing.

“I found the motivational spirit severely lacking among the boys and I must bear the responsibility for the poor show, being at the helm of the affairs,” he said.

Jamali, however, alleged that Pakistan players were sent off the field for fouls while teams playing “against us were merely given a warning.”

“It was deplorable that the umpires were colour blind for whenever the greenshirts made a foul they were shown yellow cards while the teams playing against us were shown green cards,” Jamali contended. He added that that Pakistan had lodged a protest with International Hockey Federation (FIH) but to no avail.

‘It’s a tragedy,” said Jamali “as Pakistan currently does not have any Olympic level umpires in the country.”

President PHF cited two major causes for the Olympic hockey fiasco. “Firstly the secretary PHF was sacked just weeks before the Olympics while I was not taken into confidence. And secondly, some of the players already had signed lucrative contracts with clubs in Holland and were more focussed on that rather than the national duty.”

“When a player is aware of the fact that he has a confirmed contract with a club in Holland, how can he possibly play with his full effort elsewhere?”

Najamuddin Khan, Federal Sports Minister, sacked Khalid Mahmood from the post of secretary PHF but he was later brought back as senior vice president of the federation.

Jamali suggested that for the revival of national game the government should open up job avenues for players in departments and must stop political interference in PHF matters.Responding to this remark, the Federal Secretary Sports, Ashraf Khan said that the ministry had never interfered in any matter of PHF. Instead, they always provided financial assistance to the hockey federation whenever required.

For the development hockey in the country, Jamali said there will soon be a new coach with modern scientific knowledge and added that he had already interviewed three former Olympians in this regard.

Jamali said that players comprising U-14, U-16, U-18 and U-21 outfits should be groomed for the national team.

He also informed the committee that there will be a new selection committee very soon.

President POA Syed Arif Hasan, linked the uplift of the games with more injections of funds into the federations. “If you look at the past record of Pakistan’s medal run at the Asian Games or Olympics, it has been on the decline for so many years. Our sports virtually nosedived in the early 90’s but whenever funds were injected, the performance improved,” said Hasan.

“We have neglected our sports and sadly it’s not our priority,” he remarked. The POA President later gave a comprehensive presentation to the committee regarding Pakistan’s performance in Olympics and Asian level and the grants released to various federations.