LAHORE, Oct 11 Former Olympians have criticised the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) over yet another dismal performance of the national team in the Commonwealth Games and have urged the high-ups to remove the office-bearers of the federation immediately to save the game from total disaster.

Pakistan lost to India by a big margin of 7-4 on Sunday and were ousted from the medal race. It is the second time that India defeated Pakistan in a mega event this year, outclassing the green shirts 4-2 earlier in the World Cup opener this year.

Many former Olympians had protested over that pathetic World Cup performance of Pakistan team when it had finished 12th among as many teams in February this year. They had urged Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the patron-in-chief, of the PHF to change the current PHF set-up but the PM had no time to meet them ot listen to their pleas.

Shahnaz Sheikh, Islahuddin Siddiqui and Naveed Alam, three main critics of the PHF, told Dawn on Monday that had the prime minister listened to their arguments at the time of the World Cup loss, the national hockey would have been in a much better shape.

“It is a shameful defeat against India and once again has exposed the incompetence and dishonesty of the federation,” said Shahnaz. “Now the PHF officials have no moral ground to hold office. The entire Qasim Zia-led body should quit at once,” he demanded.

“I urge the prime minister, the Senate and National Assembly sports committees to come forward and play their roles,” added Shahnaz.

The former forward further said if the PHF office-bearers would not be removed, the nation will have to bear more ignominy at the forthcoming Asian Games.

Former captain Islah also urged PM Gilani to remove the PHF set-up to save the game from further damage. “In the last edition of the Commonwealth Games we played the final against Australia and lost it 1-0. But now we will be playing for the fifth and sixth place which is such a shame. Moreover, the poor results of the last World Cup are enough to prove where we stand in the game,” he lamented.

He recalled how various well-known Olympians including himself had asked the prime minister to hear them out over the problems confronting hockey but Gilani could not spare time.

“When hockey's patron-in-chief will not have time to listen to former stalwarts who feel for the game, then no one can prevent such shameful results. If the former Olympians, who have given their life and blood for the nation, get such treatment from the high-ups, the office-bearers of PHF will be more encouraged to do what they like,” Islah said.

He reiterated that no foreign coach but only local ones could improve the performance of the national team.

“The PHF accepted all demands of its Dutch coach and held the training camp in Holland in 15-20 degree temperature which defied logic. The team was preparing for an event in New Delhi where the temperature is around 40oC and that kind of absurd planning shows how the PHF and the coach are managing the affairs,” he pointed out.

Islah added that it was a known fact in hockey that when a goalkeeper had conceded a maximum of four goals in a match, he was changed mid-way through the match. “But Pakistan chose not to change the goalkeeper because it had brought with it just one goalkeeper in Imran Shah,” said Islah. “It's a pity that for such a big tournament we went with just one goalkeeper.”

Meanwhile, another Olympian Naveed Alam also asked the prime minister to immediately remove the PHF set-up and appoint better people to run the game.

He said the people of Pakistan were greatly disappointed over the performance of the national team and a big surgery was needed to put the game back on the right track.

AFP adds Shahnaz further said “India launched a relentless attack and scored four goals in the first 20 minutes, which left our team bewildered,” said Shahnaz, famous for his dodges and dribbling during his illustrious career.

“The president of PHF, chief selector and team coach were on different lines before the Games, so it was not difficult to imagine what would happen to the team.”

Former captain Shahbaz Ahmed said Van den Heuvel would not be able to solve Pakistan's problems. “When I played league hockey in the Netherlands, I found him an ordinary coach and I told club's president that if he (Van den Heuvel) remains the coach then we will not be able to win any trophy.”

Shahbaz said PHF top officials were prone to making excuses for poor performances. “When they flopped in the World Cup they sacked coach Shahid Ali Khan and now they will make another excuse.”

Another former star Mansoor Ahmed said Pakistan team lacked confidence for big games. “A vociferous crowd was the difference for me,” said Mansoor of the 19,000 strong crowd which backed the home team on Sunday. “Moreover, our Dutch coach couldn't understand the tempo of an Indo-Pak match, which is always very fast. We were badly let down.”