LAHORE, Oct 16: Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) new president Qasim Zia on Thursday said his target is to win the Asian Games 2010 hockey title which is “quite possible with the team efforts from all the quarters.”

Addressing his maiden press conference at the PHF offices here on Thursday after taking over as the new hockey chief, the former Olympian said: “We still have almost 18 months to prepare the national team for the coveted title and I am confident that we will succeed despite the fact the team is ranked 6th in Asia and 8th in the world at the moment.”

Flanked by his secretary, ex-Olympian Asif Bajwa, Qasim said the game had touched the lowest ebb and it was a challenging task to revive it and to enable the country to regain its past glory.

Qasim, a member of the Pakistan team which gained Olympic gold medal way back in 1984 under the captaincy of Manzoor Junior, said Pakistan historically enjoyed a rich record in international hockey as no other country had won four World Cups, and three Olympics golds, Champions Trophy and Asian Games.

“But unfortunately, at present we are struggling at the 8th spot in the Olympics and 6th in Asia. I don’t want to blame anyone who was at the helm in the past and instead, we should learn from the past to make our future bright,” said Qasim.

“To regain the lost titles, we should encourage our players who have the talent, and with a comprehensive resurrection plan, things can work out for us. I would like to have the cooperation of former players and the provinces and want them to assist the PHF for this national cause,” he said.

Qasim said his slogan was “Believe in Pakistan and believe in hockey” and he was determined to turn the fortunes of the game around pretty soon.

Rectifying the record, Qasim denied the claim of former president Jamali that the PHF had Rs50 million in its kitty at the moment. “In fact, the amount is Rs35 million as an amount of Rs15 million has already been allocated for the ongoing projects,” he said.

Asked if he found himself capable of running Pakistan hockey after being out of the picture for so long, Qasim said: “Hockey is in my blood and despite remaining away from it due to my political engagements, I kept regular contact with the game.”

He further said he would stress on the formation of such policies which could benefit hockey and there was a PHF team for the implementation.

Qasim, however, did not offer anything for the financial welfare of the the national team players, a majority of whom have no regular jobs at the moment.

However, the new president was more concerned about those who failed to get a place in the national team.

“We have to make a plan for the future of those players who could not find places in the national side,” he said.

When his attention was drawn towards the national team players having no regular jobs, Qasim said they had different means of earning but those who failed to play for Pakistan for various reasons had no future ahead and should be taken care of.

Incidentally, PHF Secretary Asif Bajwa had announced a master plan for the improvement of national hockey just a week before the induction of Qasim as president and when asked if he agreed with the plan, Qasim said: “I have gone through the details of the plan and overall it is good. But as things are changing rapidly, some alterations could be made accordingly.”

To a question, he said after taking the vote of confidence from the Council on Oct 20, he would form the national selection committee, besides appointing coaches and manager for the different teams.

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani, who is patron of the PHF, on Wednesday appointed Qasim as the PHF president. Qasim is also a politician and has replaced a more seasoned one, former Prime Minister Zafarullah Khan Jamali who tendered his resignation early this week.

Qasim, after his retirement from international hockey in 1987 had joined PPP and is now a legislator of the Punjab Assembly.