Pakistan hockey team player (File photo)
The four-time champions have now gone 32 years without winning the title and were knocked out of the competition after another disappointing campaign. The Pakistan Hockey Federation has announced plans for a new hockey league and efforts to promote the sport in schools. You look at the FIH Pro League where we lost all our matches against the European and SENA teams, and it is obvious Pakistan hockey has fallen way behind other countries,” he said.
“This hockey league and all is fine in the long run but right now Pakistan hockey needs an injection (of fresh blood) which will only come if we do well in the Asian Games against India, Malaysia, Japan, China, Korea and other sides,” said former Olympian Wasim Feroze, as quoted by news agency PTI. Pakistan’s poor showing at the ongoing Hockey World Cup has left former players deeply concerned about the state of the sport. They will now play South Africa in the classification match for 11th place. However, former players believe the national team’s immediate focus should be the Asian Games in Japan next month. Former international Ahmed Alam believes Pakistan must find out why the team continues to struggle against European and SENA nations, including South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia. “Even against Japan, we’ve struggled. Pakistan finished ninth and last in the recent Pro League. Alam pointed to India as the only Asian team consistently competing with the leading European sides, Australia and New Zealand, crediting its stronger hockey structure.