Shakeel Abbasi, Waseem Ahmed and Rehan Butt cleared off from allegations regarding WSH
Senior players from Pakistan’s field hockey team, who played a vital role in winning the title in the Asian Games, have been cleared from allegations regarding their association with the unofficial World Series Hockey (WSH).
Waseem Ahmed, Rehan Butt and Shakeel Abbasi will be part of the national team that is going to contest in the Sultan Azlan Shah Hockey Tournament, scheduled to be held on May 05, in Ipoh, Malaysia.
The participation of these players in the controversial hockey league could kick them out from national and international hockey forever. However, their association with WSH has not been proved, thus the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has cleared them
and they will be considered for the squad in the Malaysia-based tournament.
The National Selection Committee under the headship of former Olympian, Hanif Khan, and comprising of two other members would finalise the squad on Thursday April 28, after one-day trials at the Naseer Bunda Hockey Stadium.
It is vital to mention here that the federation issued show-cause notices to the trio asking them to pronounce their disassociation with the unofficial Indian league. However, it has been reported that the said players have not inked any contract with the
rebel league.
Some of the media reports claimed that three legendary players, Shakeel Abbasi, Rehan Butt and Waseem Ahmed, had signed agreements with the multi-million WSH. However, it was just limited with the reports and not based on any truth.
Apart from the rumours regarding participation of Pakistani players in the Indian unofficial league, the sport got much coverage in the main stream media, including the news bulletins, talk shows and as well in the print media. This extensive coverage is
good for a dying game, but not for a national sport of the country.
WSH, World Series Hockey, was launched by Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) in collaboration with the Nimbus Sports, a sub project of Nimbus Communication. They announced prizes worth millions of dollars to capture the attention of international players across
the globe. However, the International Hockey Federation (FIH) has declared it as unofficial and asked all the associated federations and bodies to keep distance from the league.
On the other side, the FIH also directed Hockey India (HI), the registered sport body in the country, to organise a commercial event on lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL). It is an effort to foil all the attempts of the unofficial organisation to host
the hockey events.
On the contrary, a few players from Pakistan, Muhammad Saqlain and Zeeshan Ashraf may wish to join the Indian rebel league. However, the official league of Hockey India may change the minds of inducting Pakistani players in this regard.
Tags: