LAHORE: Eleven Olympians and international hockey players will jointly address a press conference in Gojra on Sunday to highlight the declining standard of the game in the country.

According to a press release issued by Pakistan Olympian Forum and Hockey Family spokesman Salim Nazim, the Olympians will first attend a seminar and then they will address the press conference.

The prominent names who will attend the seminar include Manzoor Senior, Rasheed-ul-Hasan, Khalid Bashir, Sheikh Mohammad Usman, Zahid Sharif, Naeem Akhtar, Shakil Abbasi and Navid Alam.

The second and third phases of the forum would be held in Lahore and Islamabad, it was announced.

Navid, it may be mentioned here, has recently been banned from all kinds of hockey activities by the Punjab Hockey Association.

Salim said the forum would discuss the reasons behind the continuous decline of Pakistan’s ranking in international hockey, plus alleged embezzlement in the funds of the Pakistan Hockey Federation since 2008, unconstitutional ban on Navid by the PHA and alleged role of the PHF in forming parallel bodies at the district level.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2020