LAHORE: RoelantOltmans has been approached by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to return as the national side’s head coach with the Azlan Shah Cup and the FIH Nations Cup around the corner.
The Dutchman has served the Pakistan senior and junior sides in the role during different periods since 2004 and was involved with the youth side in in his recent-most stint.The cash strapped PHF is currently looking to hire Oltmans only for the Azlan Shah Cup and the Nations Cup, set to be held in Malaysia and Poland respectively in May-June, with the long-term agreement to come into question only after the two events.
Dawn has learnt the PHF has sent Oltmans the contract and that the coach is studying it.“If he accepts the terms and conditions the PHF will hire him for the two tournaments,” a PHF told Dawn.The federation is looking to set up the national side’s training camp in Islamabad from April 15 for the two tournaments and is hoping Oltmans agrees upon taking the coaching role — an agreement of two months — before it starts.
The last time the PHF hired a foreign coach to work with the national side, it was Oltmans compatriot Siegfried Aikman in 2022-23. The experience was one to forget for the latter as the PHF failed to pay his monthly salaries for one year due to the body’s differences with the Pakistan Sports Board.Aikman received his dues only after he walked away from the job following a bitter time in Pakistan.
After a considerable delay of eight months, the cash-strapped Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) on Monday finally issued the first installment of the arrears of senior and junior players and staff members.
While the players and the federation’s staff had been waiting for the last eight months to get their dues, the tussle between two groups to get control of the PHF — with almost nothing in its bank accounts which had been blocked — only prolonged the financial suffering of the players and the staff.
On Monday, PHF president Tariq Hussain Bugti, in his meetings with national senior team captain AmmadShakeel Butt and skipper of the junior side Hanan Shahid Butt, ensured them that all the dues would be cleared soon.
Speaking on the occasion, Bugti asked the players to focus on their performance while noting that the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup was round the corner. The PHF president urged them to forget the past and prepare themselves for the future.
The ongoing tussle for power in the Pakistan Hockey Federation intensified on Monday when Tariq Hussain Bugti, who took the vote of confidence from the divided Congress on March 21 in Islamabad, sacked a number of officials believed to be close to his rival group.
Bugti visited the PHF office in Lahore and sacked all the officials, who had a soft corner for the rival group — headed by PPP MNA Shehla Raza — who took the vote of confidence from her like-minded members of the PHF Congress meeting held in Karachi on March 19.
The employees who were sacked included Ali Abbas (executive secretary), Khalid Bashir (administrator) and Qadeer Bashir (assistant admin).Tariq said that he had also registered an FIR against Haider Hussain, who is working as secretary under Shehla-headed federation.
“We have got an FIR registered against Haider for taking home the PHF office documents and using the official PHF email [account] correspondence with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) and the Asia Hockey Federation (AHF),” Tariq said while addressing a press conference alongside PHF secretary Rana Mujahid in Lahore on Monday.
It may be mentioned here that Mujahid, Asif Bajwa, Shahbaz Senior as secretaries and Qasim Zia, Akhtar Rasool and Brig Khalid Sajjad Khokhar as presidents had worked in the PHF from 2008 to 2022.
