KARACHI, Oct 13: President, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali resigned from the post on Monday in a hurriedly-called press conference at the Hockey Club of Pakistan, just a day prior to the PHF’s executive board meeting at the same venue.

Jamali, who had only just returned from Islamabad in the afternoon after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, who is also patron-in-chief of the PHF, said that he had made this decision without any pressure from anyone. “All my life, I tried my best to not offend anyone but mistakes and miscommunication do happen. Politics teaches one tolerance and I have tolerated many things,” he said.

“Also I know only two things — hockey and politics. Now that hockey is out, I have no other choice but to return to politics. I did not even contest the elections this time so that I could give time to hockey and I tried to give it my best. But what’s done is done, I have no regrets about anything,” he said.

Looking back at his appointment two years ago, Jamali, a former Punjab University Blue and a fine hockey player of his time, said: “I was given this responsibility in 2006. I never had to ask for it. Earlier, I had also remained chairman of the selection committee and I felt honoured to work for the betterment of hockey even though after serving as the prime minister of Pakistan, it was like a step down for me. But the sport is very close to my heart.”

Referring to the state of the PHF at the time of his taking charge, Jamali said: “There were only 12 to 14 lac rupees in the kitty at the time and the PHF had liabilities mounting up to Rs40 million. So the first thing which I knew I had to do was getting the federation out of that mess. I wrote a cheque for Rs100 million to solve the immediate problem. Today, as I am stepping down as head of the federation, I am leaving Rs53.9 million in the PHF kitty. All this is after the payment of the employees’ salaries and I hope the money will be well utilised.”

Speaking about the team’s declining performance, he said: “Yes, we didn’t produce good results in Azlan Shah, we failed miserably at the Olympics too along with several other major tournaments. But believe me, the failures were more painful for us, the people directly involved with the game, than the other lovers of the sport. And taking responsibility for it, many of us resigned too. But I also want to make it clear here that it was all done on a voluntary basis despite what the press has been alleging. I never forced anyone to step down.

Talking about the media’s role in his ouster, he said that it was unfortunate that the media targeted him specifically without even trying to find out the facts. “Very few may be aware of what I’m going to disclose now,” said Jamali. “I have been trying to leave since April. The new government took charge on March 25 and I met with the new PM soon after. I informed him that as patron of the federation, he had a right to choose anyone he desired for the post as I wanted to go anyway. But he did not agree with me back then so I decided to carry on till the Olympics despite suffering from a bad knee.

“I again met Gillani sahib after the Beijing debacle and repeated my desire to leave. At the time Asif Zardari was being nominated for the post of president of Pakistan and I was told that they were all too busy preparing for the forthcoming presidential elections. Then came Ramazan, followed by Eid, but today I have called this press conference after informing the prime minister of my decision to leave. I will just now put my signature on my resignation letter before faxing it to him,” he said.

Commenting on a recent move by former hockey Olympians against him, Jamali said: “I didn’t even mind it when the former Olympians, headed by Hassan Sardar, chanted slogans such as ‘Go Jamali Go’. Everyone has a right to their opinion. They are all like my children and there is no point in fighting with your children. I think Hassan Sardar was one of the greatest hockey players Pakistan ever produced and I’m a lover of his game.

“Hockey is in my blood just like politics, the fighting spirit and forgiveness are. At my age, I don’t want to hold any kind of grudges against anyone. I have forgiven everyone who ever said anything against me,” he said.

“I also fought to save this very stadium when it was under threat of being bulldozed by the authorities after the expiration of its lease in 1993, which could not be renewed in time. Now I leave it to my successor to carry on with the good work,” he added.

“I will still fight for the jobless players and I’m especially thankful to the PIA MD Ijaz Haroon for providing jobs to so many of our young and talented players. The children’s future is still very important for me. I will continue to travel to watch our team play, to support them in the various foreign championships in which they may feature, on my own expense as always.”

When asked if the cancellation of the women’s hockey team tour to Sri Lanka had anything to do with his stepping down, Jamali pointed out that the tournament had been cancelled anyway. He, however, said he was a little disappointed with the women’s wing since it never kept him abreast of their affairs despite his repeated queries. Referring to the sports ministry’s interference in the PHF affairs, Jamali said it was nothing new. “The government interfered with hockey in 1996 also when I was chairman of the selection committee as they did earlier this year by sacking the secretary without consulting me. Both times it was the PPP government but I am not afraid of any government.

Besides Jamali, the current national team coach Jahangir Butt, assistant coach Kamran Ashraf, associate secretary Naveed Alam along with Project Director Waseeq Ahmed also resigned from their respective posts on Monday.