KARACHI, March 15: Pakistan Hockey Federation’s (PHF) practice of indulging in nepotism and favouritism continues unabated as a number of discarded team officials have once again been inducted at all levels.

The latest move by the PHF of bringing former Pakistan captain Islahuddin Siddiqui as the paid manager-cum-chief coach till 2008 Beijing Olympics is a perfect example of how the game’s governing body is hell-bent on obliging near and dear ones.

The fact that Islah and PHF secretary Akhtarul Islam are close and old ‘friends’ is not a secret. Islah, who had flatly refused to take charge last year, is now willing to serve hockey so diligently. His decision to join at this juncture certainly has its reasons. For the first time in the history of Pakistan hockey, the PHF has opted to hire a local coach by doling out a handsome financial package.

Interestingly, while PHF takes pride in setting the trend of giving financial incentives to a local coach, Akhtar refuses to disclose the amount being given to his friend. If cash-strapped PHF has now decided to hire a local paid coach, the nation and the hockey aficionados have all the right to know how much money is being spent on Islah on whose shoulders rests the responsibility of regaining the lost glory.

Since Islah himself has stated that he would be more accountable now as a paid coach, Akhtar’s reluctance to disclose the amount being paid to the chief coach is nothing but hiding skeletons in the cupboard.

One fails to fathom why our Olympians are keeping mum over Akhtar’s refusal to reveal the financial package, while they had drawn their daggers for Roelant Oltmans’s blood when the Dutchman was hired in late 2003 for an undisclosed package by the then PHF hierarchy.

The reason for this silence is not without logic. Today, Islah is being paid a handsome amount, tomorrow another Olympian would be at the helm once the former captain takes a bow without any accountability of his performance.

Paying a local coach is not a debatable decision, but only if the chief coach is accountable for his performance, otherwise the whole exercise would be nothing but dishing out a favour to local Olympians.

It is a general practice that whenever and wherever a paid employee is hired, organisations always consider track record and professional skills of the candidate for the job. But if one now takes note of Islah’s track record and professional and administrative abilities, his selection certainly becomes questionable.

The new manager/chief coach is not a new figure in Pakistan hockey. He has served as team manager in 1983, 1988- 92, 1998, and 2000 besides managing the Olympic Games squads three times in 1988, 1992 and 2000. Not once did the team win hockey title whenever it went to the Olympics under Islah.

For the former forward the two-year tenure is not sufficient to help Pakistan regain lost stature in hockey world. He says at least four to five years are required for achieving the goals. But if Islah does feel that he would not be able to guide Pakistan to victory at the Beijing Olympics due to time constraints, why did he take up the job in the first place?

Another alarming factor is that Islah is being non-committal about the future of five Pakistan players – Mohammad Saqlain, Sohail Abbas, Mohammad Waseem, Dilawar Hussain and Ghazanfar Ali – who have been barred by PHF chief Zafarullah Jamali for their preference to the foreign leagues instead of joining Asian Games training camp last year. Although he recently stated the group of five would not be called up for Azlan Shah Cup, he didn’t specifically say whether or not they would be invited after the event in Malaysia.

His statement clearly indicates that he may be advocating PHF to bring those five indisciplined and ageing players back into Pakistan team. If that’s the case there’s hardly any logic in it. If hot-tempered Saqlain and an indisciplined Sohail, who are clearly spent force now, could be recalled to the squad then recalling current chief selector Khalid Mahmood, Shahnaz Sheikh, Hanif Khan, Shahbaz Ahmad or even Anwar Ahmad Khan makes just as much sense.

Not only has Islah been a manager in the past, he has also served as a selector several times before getting sacked. While as a technocrat he failed on numerous occasions, Islah’s administrative qualities are debatable too. It was under him as manager that Shahbaz Ahmad along with Tahir Zaman was brought into the squad before Pakistan-India series and the 1998 Utrecht World Cup despite the fact that Shahbaz led the infamous revolt against the PHF administration weeks before the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.

When Islah finally realised his blunder during the Pakistan-India away series, he pressed PHF to get rid of the pair. But since Shahbaz was the blue-eyed boy of then PHF president Akhtar Rasool and secretary Lt-Col Mudassar Asghar, he compromised to save his position as manager.

The result was sheer humiliation for Pakistan who finished at an unimpressive fifth position in the World Cup.

Also, the memories of a smuggling scam in 1983 when Islah was team manager are still fresh in the minds of hockey fans. Quite a few Pakistan team players belonging to Pakistan Customs were grilled by their department upon their return from Hong Kong after Customs confiscated unclaimed contraband items at Karachi airport.

If there were few successes during Islah’s managership, it was because Pakistan had world class players who didn’t need much tutoring. Today’s hockey is modern science and needs an individual having unblemished record and superior administrative qualities.

Interestingly, Islah has been wearing several hats at the same time. Apart from being paid manager/chief coach, he is also the director technical as well as director international hockey -- two positions that were “bestowed” upon him by the previous PHF set up. Besides that, his appointment as organising secretary for this month’s national championship is the latest addition to his several portfolios. One wonders if any paid professional coach would act in the same capacity anywhere around the globe.

Pakistan hockey is at its lowest ebb today, putting up abjectly poor performances during the past seven years. Islah has been the director technical for quite some time now and, keeping that in mind, it is incomprehensible to expect him to lift the sagging fortunes of Pakistan hockey as manager/chief coach with Bejing Olympics just round the corner.

Another former Pakistan captain Hanif Khan visited India recently as touring manager for Pakistan players who took part in the Premier Hockey League. It is interesting to note that it was Hanif and not Islah who advised PHF to give players a month rest since he felt they are suffering from burnout and psychological problems.

There is not an iota of doubt that Islah was a key member of the Pakistan’s golden era of hockey in the ‘60s and the ‘70s in a side that boast a number of world class players. But since he has never been involved in grooming talent at grassroots level, his appointment certainly appears like a case of favouritism. It was bit of a shock to see Islah in a cricket gear on TV few years ago, emphasising his taking to hockey was a sheer coincidence because cricket was his first love. He is not even associated with his department (Customs) team as either a coach or a manager.

Paid coaching assignment requires someone who has unflappable loyalty, devotion and commitment to the national game of hockey. However, if PHF is serious in exploring talent at grassroots level, then it can surely utilise Islah’s honorary services for scouting.

Coming to junior outfit management, appointment of Jahangir Butt as manager and Kamran Ashraf and Danish Kaleem as coaches is yet another example of favouritism at the cost of patronising indisciplined officials.

Jahangir, a close buddy of Jamali, has been tested several times as manager in the past and was removed eventually, he has been given the charge in place of Manzoor Jr who has been removed without any valid reason. As for Danish, he has been involved in several incidents of misconduct and was even removed from the bench as Pakistan Customs coach during a local event.

Previous PHF bigwigs had inducted dozens of officials from PIA with airlines chief Tariq Kirmani as the federation chief. And now, it is the Customs personnel who are ruling the roost in the PHF. All the current officials - Islah, Jahangir, Danish, Hanif - who supervised an under-18 Karachi training camp along with hot-headed Farhat Khan, chief selector Khalid Mahmood, selector Samiullah are either serving or retired Customs officials which is certainly no coincidence.

If this scenario continues, Pakistan will continue to remain the underdogs in hockey kingdom which they once ruled as undisputed kings.