KARACHI, Dec 4: Cash-strapped Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), living on charity, always finds ways and means to send its favourite on a joyride as a sacked team manager became the sixth person to be flown to Perth where FIH Congress is due Thursday.

According to a recent announcement by the PHF secretary, Brig Musarrat Ullah Khan, only five officials have gone to the land Down Under to attend or to seek re-election to various committees of the International Hockey Federation (FIH).

Among the five officials is also Brig Musarrat who will be attending the Congress besides contesting the executive board membership which is now vacant after Brig M.H. Atif relinquished the post.

Other officials named by the PHF who have gone to the Australian city are Islahuddin Siddiqi (rules board), Col Mudassar Asghar (competition committee), Shahbaz Ahmad (athletes panel), and Sardar Khan (media committee).

However, it has been learnt Brig Khalid Khokhar, a close aide of Brig Musarrat, who was removed as manager after World Cup in Kuala Lumpur, has also been flown to Perth.

Although, neither the PHF disclosed Brig Khalid’s name when it released the list of the officials going to Perth nor announced his name later, he is believed to have been sent to campaign for Musarrat before the executive board election.

Apparently, Brig Khalid is believed to be nominated by the PHF for FIH development committee, but his major task is to lobby for PHF secretary for his election.

It is astonishing that PHF could bear such expenditures on joyrides despite facing paucity of funds.

PHF, according to a report, faces a shortfall of Rs9.70million next year and has recently been helped financially by the SAF Games organizers who have donated Rs5million.

The PHF secretary recently claimed Pakistan has now the major representation at the sport’s world ruling body.

PHF, however, has lost its effectiveness after the taking over of the new administration which could be judged by the fact that FIH had even refused to compensate Pakistan for the shifting of the 2001 Champions Trophy from Lahore.

Our Lahore Correspondent adds: Favouritism is the name of the game in the PHF, due to which an official could not go to Perth to attend a FIH meeting.

Rana Inam Rabbani was elected member of the FIH development and coaching committee committee (DCC), along with four officials of different committees, on the recommendation of PHF in Sept 2001, for a four-year term which ends April 16, 2004.

Except Rana, all others have gone to Australia to attend the meeting along with PHF secretary, Brig Musarrat who is contesting the election for FIH executive board.

Rana, retained as secretary of the Punjab Hockey Association (PHA) for the last consecutive nine years (1993-2002), could not contest PHA elections held in 2002 because PHF held it under the new sports policy which does not allow a candidate to hold the same office for more than two terms.

When contacted by Dawn, Rana said that he was never informed of the meeting, and only came to know through other sources two weeks ago that a FIH DCC meeting was being held in Australia.

Consequently Rana added, he tried to contact PHF secretary but failed because the latter was in Karachi.

“I also spoke to another staff member of the PHF office who informed me that the documents of those officials who were going to Perth had already been dispatched to the Australian High Commission two weeks before as per rule of the Commission “, he said.

Rana went on to say, that later he received a letter from PHF dated Nov 27, 2002 informing him that he would not go to Australia because he had isolated himself from the PHF’s affairs.

Rana asked PHF “have you given me any task, assignment or any other order which I could not do which provokes you you to take this decision ?”.

He further asked if the officials who went to Australia had been giving proper time and attention to their jobs.

Rana alleged that PHF also misled him, by not informing him about his appointment as regional development officer for South Asia made by the Asian Hockey Federation Development and Coaching committee (AHF-DCC).