The poor performance at the Beijing Olympics may not be surprising to those who closely follow group politics that exists among players.

The formation of a three-member inquiry committee by the Federal Sports Ministry to probe into the Pakistani hockey team`s failure at the August Beijing Olympic has become a bit controversial.

The reason for it is the inclusion in the committee of a person who led a revolt against the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) during the Atlanta Games.

The inquiry committee, announced on Sept 8, is headed by Rana Farooq Seed, a member of the National Assembly, and two former Pakistan captains — Abdul Waheed and Shahbaz Ahmed - the latter revolted against the PHF during the Atlanta Olympics.

Pakistan gave a disappointing performance by finishing eighth in the 12-nation Beijing Olympic hockey, which was eventually won by Germany.

The inquiry committee will review the performance and suggest measures for improving the standard of the game in the country. The committee is to submit its report by end of October but so far it has held only one meeting at the PSB Coaching Centre, Karachi, and that too about three weeks ago.

The committee will hold similar meetings in Lahore and Islamabad before finalising its report which will be submitted to the Ministry of Sports.

In Karachi, a good number of former Olympians and international players appeared before the inquiry committee and expressed their views on the Beijing setback and suggested measures to improve the quality of the game. Among those who took part in the discussion were Islahuddin Siddiqui, Hasan Sardar, former PHF secretary Akhtarul Islam, Hanif Khan, Mohammad Shafiq, Nasir Ali, Rasheedul Hasan and Waseem Feroz.

However, one feels the Sports Ministry committed should not have included Shahbaz Ahmed in the inquiry committee. It is on record that Shahbaz, who was the leader of a powerful group of players at the Karachi camp, demanded removal of the then PHF secretary and team manager, Col (retd) Mudassar Asghar. Shahbaz was dropped from the Atlanta Olympics squad but because of his connections he managed to join the Pakistani team. Pakistan put up a terrible show at the Atlanta Games by gaining sixth place.

So the poor performance at the Beijing Olympics might not be surprising to those who closely follow group politics that exists among players and in the team management.

It was almost a continuation of the Atlanta setback and there is great danger that Pakistan may be out of the 2012 London Olympics if it fails to qualify for the mega event.

Pakistan has quite a few former Olympians who have done great service to national hockey and among them is Brig (retd) Abdul Hamid, popularly known as Hamidi. Under his captaincy Pakistan ended India`s unprecedented 32-year domination in Olympic Games during the 1960 Rome battle.

The Bannu-born Hamidi, a former PHF secretary, deserved to be chairman of the inquiry committee. In case he is not willing to head the committee, Brig (retd) M.H. Atif would be a good choice.