KARACHI, March 19 While praising chief selector Hasan Sardar and his team for putting together a winning combination, Secretary, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Asif Bajwa said on Thursday that the federation believed in taking all decisions after considering the views of its stakeholders, including the congress members and technocrats.

Addressing an informal gathering of media members at the Hockey Club of Pakistan (HCP), Bajwa said “We should set aside all such things like questioning the selection committee and other differences for the betterment of Pakistan hockey as all matters are decided after complete consensus and consultation.

“We should also give credit to the people for their good work. Both coaches Shahid Ali Khan and Kamran Arshaf are totally involved in their jobs of bringing the team up and their hard work would reap good results,” said the former Olympian.

“The junior team management too must be commended for enabling the team to win the recently-concluded four-nation junior tournament in Malaysia because it was not easy to bounce back after losing to India.”

About the unfortunate attack on the Sri Lankan team and its repercussions, Bajwa said “We are failing to see the silver lining in all this, which is our heroes giving away their lives in order to thwart the terrorists' plans. Look at the 9/11 attacks in the US, look at the recent Mumbai attacks. Where do you get such a fine example of the culprits failing to carry out their ill intentions as it happened here?

“But there are also so many countries wanting to paint Pakistan in a negative light. Our media can highlight the positive aspects of this attack as can our icons and hockey stars when dealing with the foreign media. Applying this line of action, it won't be long before the other countries are convinced to give Pakistan another chance. I have also issued directives to all PHF associations to speak positively of Pakistan,” he said.

About the team's foreign assignments, Bajwa said “The team will be touring Europe in June after the Asia Cup. We have an invitation from Australia too but Australia and Europe are two separate continents and it may be financially difficult to travel to both places. So we are planning for Australia to play with us somewhere in Europe.

“Then there is a four-nation tournament in Russia too for which we are being invited but I have written to them that we will be considering it only if it involves top teams as we are not interested in playing C and B-rated teams. After all, we need to compete with the best teams in order to improve our standard,” he added.

When asked how come the Azlan Shah squad only had one goalkeeper, Nasir Ahmed, Bajwa quipped “Well how many times do you see a goalkeeper getting injured during a competition? Pakistan, unfortunately, is a little weak in producing good goalkeepers for which former world champion Mansoor has been assigned to train new goalkeepers.”

On the issue of old players such as Sohail Abbas making themselves available at their own whim and fancy, Bajwa said “The PHF doesn't send anyone home but we draw the line on fitness. When your world ranking is so low that you don't even qualify for the Champions Trophy, you really can't say no to such players. We need these seniors to groom the youngsters and set examples for them.

“We have picked some 33 boys to be groomed in the 12 academies and seven more such academies are in the pipeline. All this is being done to extend the pool of emerging talent. Even if there is one player ready from one academy, you'll have 12 new players in the next four years.”

About underestimating the coaching abilities of former Olympian and national team captain Islahuddin Siddiqui, Bajwa clarified “What I'm trying to say is that we have started a process and those not agreeable with it are not with us, that's all. New people should also be given a chance to prove themselves.”

About not nominating Islah for the FIH rules and regulations committee, Bajwa said “Well, Islah has his point of view on this and I have mine. Tell me if the rules and regulation committee ever came up with any rule to help us in the past 17 years when Islah was there?”

When asked why the FIH didn't consider Rana Mujahid, the other nominee, he explained that it helped if the continental federations also recommended the candidate along with the national federation.”