ISLAMABAD: 1994 World Cup winning team’s member Khawaja Junaid was fully supported by National Assembly Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination chairman Nawab Sher Waseer and its members on his genuine complaint against the lifetime ban imposed by de-notified Pakistan Hockey Federation during the committee’s recent meeting.
When Khawaja Junaid stood up from nowhere requesting Nawab Waseer to give him permission to lodge his complaint against the PHF, he accepted his request. When Junaid told the committee members about lifetime ban, they were taken by surprise.
“You are our hero as you have achieved the World Cup for us and served the country’s hockey in the toughest of times. We are proud of you,” Nawab Sher Waseer said while other members of the committee tapped the table in his honour.
“I am surprised to learn about this ban from a federation that has already been de-notified. How could a de-notified federation clamp a ban on a world champion? This ban has no value,” Nawab Waseer, an MNA from Faisalabad, said.
Haider Hussain, secretary of the de-notified federation, remarked that he had many tours as official in his credit. Junaid was also blamed for playing extra player in the key World Cup qualifier against Japan.
The head coach, solely responsible more for such a misadventure, was recently sent over Rs8 million while Khawaja Junaid was banned for life, indeed an unjust decision from de-notified hockey federation that has nothing to its credit barring numerous charges which they would continue to face and fight for years to come.
Recently, a question raised on National Assembly’s floor that how much grant the PHF has received in recent times. No one knows that the total amount which the federation has got from different sources during the last eight years is more than 2000 million rupees this includes grants from federal government, Sindh government, Chief of Army Staff and other sponsors.
The hefty amount is enough to cater needs of the federation for almost a decade but the main question is that where has bulk of money has gone?
There are also some rumours that a hidden account in Gulberg branch of Sindh Bank in Lahore remained active for a few years. If these rumors are true, the auditor general and especially the special auditors would be facing a big challenge to go through the details.
