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Published 14 Jul, 2009 12:00am

Former goalie accuses PHF secretary of wrongdoing

ISLAMABAD Controversial ex-Olympian Mansoor Ahmad on Monday accused the Pakistan Hockey Federation secretary Asif Bajwa of involvement in 'human trafficking' as well of misuse of authority at a crowded press conference here.
 
'Bajwa used the official PHF letterhead to get family visas for his wife and son and got it stamped from the German Consulate in Karachi which was a clear violation of the federation rules,' alleged the former goalkeeper who represented Pakistan in 238 international matches during the 1990s.

'The PHF letter pad was misused in the case of Malik Ahtesham Zahid also. It is wrong, pathetic and shameful the way Bajwa has been misusing authority,' he said. 'I request the prime minister and the sports minister to take notice of the current massive wrong doings in the PHF.'

The goalkeeper later distributed passport copies of Bajwa's family members and one Malik Ahtesham Zahid to substantiate the allegations.

When asked that even he (Mansoor) had been working with the PHF on a contract basis as junior development coordinator before getting sacked, he said 'I was never in a monetary deal with the PHF regarding any assignment.'

When grilled about his own involvement in obtaining illegal US visas for others to participate in the California Cup without the permission of the federation, Mansoor said 'I had applied for the visa individually but the allegations of providing visas to others are baseless.'

It must be mentioned here that Mansoor, a former Customs official, has had a chequered past with alleged involvement in a number of controversies.

He was suspended as junior team coach some eight years ago and was later sacked by the then PHF officials after being arrested for stealing silver in huge quantity from a Customs warehouse, a charge for which he was later convicted and sent to prison.

Meanwhile, a top official of the PHF while reacting to Mansoor's press conference on Monday said 'We will sue him [Mansoor] for his wrong allegations and statements made before the media against federation's Secretary Asif Bajwa without any evidence.'

'The visas of Bajwa's family members or of any other individual were never stamped by the German Consulate in Karachi. The information provided by Mansoor is not correct and the four-page document is redundant,' the official asserted.

'The PHF secretary and the president have a mandate to go anywhere in the world and in doing so, they are not violating any law or rules of the PHF,' he concluded.

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