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The violation occurred under the nose of tournament director Iftikhar Syed and all the technical officials when SSGC team manager Ishtiaq Mubeen also represented his department as a forward against KESC on Sunday.
While Ishtiaq was mentioned as team manager of SSGC, he was also included in the match sheet as No 18 player. Interestingly, he also signed the match sheet after the match as SSGC team manager.
Astonishingly, when asked about his status after the match, Ishtiaq introduced himself as SSGC “coach” and a player, while his teammates also confirmed him as their coach.
“I am the SSGC coach and a player as well. I played for my team and also acted as its coach,” Ishtiaq told Dawn.com after the match which his side lost 4-3 to KESC.
However, Rana Zaheer Ahmad was named as coach of SSGC on the official scoresheet signed by Ishtiaq. When asked to clarify the situation, Zaheer too seemed to be puzzled.
“It is true that Ishtiaq is our team manager and a player as well. He also played in today's match against KESC. I believe a team manager can also play for his team. But I don't think that Ishtiaq is SSGC coach. I am the coach and he is our manager,” said Zaheer.
Asked about the rules, Zaheer admitted that the championship was being played according to International Hockey Federation (FIH) rules, but added that he didn't know much about them.
“Frankly speaking, I don't have that much awareness about FIH rules, but what I know is that manager can also play for his team,” said Zaheer.
Azmat Pasha, who acted as technical officer of the match, had the most stunning comments when he was asked how a team manager can represent his team as a player.
Although the technical officer conceded that the championship was being played according to FIH rules, he said a team manager can also play for his side as it was a usual practice in Pakistan.
“This championship is indeed being played according to FIH rules. I don't know about the FIH rules, but what I know is that a team manager can also play for his team as it is a common practice in Pakistan. I don't know about FIH, but I have a Masters in physical education from Karachi University where I have been taught that a coach cannot play but a manager can play for his team if he wishes so,” said Azmat.
However, FIH rules categorically say that team manager should be present on the bench all the time during the match.
FIH rules' article 9.2 says “the team manager, team coach or assistant team coach (but not both), the physiotherapist and substitute players nominated for that match, up to a maximum of eight persons, plus the team medical doctor, if registered, must remain seated on the team bench during regulation time, including time stoppages, unless the Technical Officer on duty or umpire(s) direct otherwise or when following the interchange procedures. The team manager, who is responsible for the conduct of all persons occupying the bench, must be present on the bench during the match and occupy the seat nearest to the technical officials' table.”
Azmat said all these technical aspects including Ishtiaq's dual role had been approved by tournament director Iftikhar Syed. Ironically, Iftikhar, who is also an Olympian, hardly remains near the pitch, although he is required to be there all the time being the tournament director.
“Of course all these technical matters are approved by tournament director. When we received the match sheet it had Ishtiaq's name as a team manager and a player on it which means Iftikhar Syed had already approved it,” said Azmat.
The technical officer further added that even Olympian Kashif Jawwad was to fulfill the role of manager for Port Qasim Authority but later played for his team when some of his players were found overage in the scrutiny before the match.
The big questions is how and why a team manager was allowed by tournament director to become a player when the entries had already been confirmed by the PQA team. In principle, PQA should have been asked to play only with the available players after the exclusion of overage players.
To top off a truly comical scenario, the KESC-SSGC match was played in near darkness in last 10 minutes as the tournament director did not feel necessary to switch the floodlights on.
