ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s hockey chief resigned on Thursday, a day after the prime minister ordered an inquiry into a shambolic tour of Australia that saw the national team scrubbing dishes in a guest house.
Tariq Bugti, who headed the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), stepped down following complaints by national team players in last week’s whitewash tour, and after premier Shehbaz Sharif launched a probe.
While cricket is hugely popular in Pakistan, field hockey is the country’s national sport.
But Pakistan — three-time Olympic champions and four-time World Cup winners — have plummeted to as low as 14th in the international rankings.
Team captain Ammad Butt slammed the PHF, blaming the body for not paying for a hotel, with players forced to wash their clothes and dishes at what they deemed substandard accommodation in Hobart, Tasmania.
Ahead of the Australia tour, players boycotted a training camp over non-payment of a daily allowance of $110 — their only income with no match fees or central contracts.
“I am tired of the tension which we have suffered in the last year,” Butt told AFP.
“First I had to fight for the daily allowances and now this shabby treatment on the tour.”
Butt said when the players landed in Sydney en-route to Hobart for the second round of their Pro League fixtures, they had to roam the streets with no hotel to stay in.
“When we reached Hobart, the management told us it did not have sufficient funds to pay the hotel charges and we had to live in a guest house,” Butt said.
“The players had to prepare their breakfast, do dishwashing and wash clothes. In this situation what kind of performance could a player produce for the team?“
Pakistan have lost every one of their eight matches in the Pro League, losing 3-0 and 3-2 to Australia and 5-2 and 3-1 to Germany — all in Hobart.
They lost to Argentina and the Netherlands in the first round in December.
“I resign from my post,” Bugti said in a press conference on Thursday, calling for an investigation after Butt “threatened the management on the tour.”
Pakistan have not qualified for the last three Olympics and were 12th when they last played a World Cup in 2018.
Next month, Pakistan will feature in a qualifying round in Egypt to claim a place in the next World Cup, hosted by the Netherlands and Belgium in August.
