LAHORE, March 24 Former Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Khalid Mahmood and former coach Naveed Alam said on Tuesday that the decision to replace the secretary just months before the Beijing Olympics proved very costly for Pakistan which slumped to an unprecedented eighth spot in the Games.

Speaking to the media after appearing before a three-member committee, probing the reasons for Pakistan`s dismal performance at the Olympics, former secretary and Olympian Khalid said the sudden replacement of the secretary before the Olympics was untimely and proved counter-productive.

The Federal Sports Ministry had appointed Asif Bajwa as PHF secretary in place of Khalid some three months before the Games which were held in August 2008 in Beijing.

Recently, the sports ministry formed a three-member committee including Rana Farooq Saeed as chairman and Olympians Waheed Khan and Shahbaz Senior as members, to probe the debacle.

Khalid pointed out that there was an acute dearth of talented players in the country which was evident from the fact that almost all the players who represented Pakistan in the Beijing Olympics were still part of the national team.

He urged the PHF to launch efforts to convince departments to raise their hockey teams, increase the pool of players and improve and promote their relationship with the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Naveed Alam, the ex-coach who served the team during the Olympics, endorsed Khalid`s viewpoint and added that the change of secretaries led to groupings in the team which proved disastrous.

Furthermore, Naveed said he had also been sidelined and no staff was given to him for assistance.

He further said the current PHF hierarchy had been limited to only four persons which was not a good omen for the game.

He alleged that the PHF had politicized its academy programme and it was not according due respect to the elders of the game.

Without mentioning the name of PHF secretary Asif Bajwa, Naveed said how could a player who had played just for 15 minutes in the Olympics, formulate a winning strategy for a 70-minute game.

Earlier head coach Khawaja Zakauddin, who also appeared before the committee, said that he had already accepted his share of responsibility in the defeat at the Games.

Zaka said without hiding any facts he had disclosed all the reasons behind the fiasco to the committee and had also given some advice for the future.

Asif Bajwa, who also gave his statement on Tuesday, said he had great respect for Naveed`s opinion but added that the team never had the capacity of finishing better than the 8th position they got.

He specified that he had great respect for all Olympians and he wanted to work with them in all aspects of the game.

The head of the committee said the body would submit its report to the federal sports ministry by the second week of April.