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WSH ignites revolt Back To Main

Khalid Hussain
 
KARACHI: Pakistan’s hockey authorities were facing a player revolt on Tuesday just 150 days before the Olympic Games tee off in London when several of the country’s leading players announced they will be featuring in the rebel World Series Hockey (WSH) in India.

The players, who have defected to the lucrative WSH, include two of Pakistan’s leading stars – Shakeel Abbasi and Rehan Butt — who were both in contention to lead the Greenshirts at the London Games.

Former Pakistan captain Zeeshan Ashraf and Waseem Ahmed – another ex-captain who was recently dumped by national selectors – are also in the list of Pakistani players who will be competing in the star-studded WSH.

They have decided to travel to India in spite of clear instructions by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) that any player linked to the unsanctioned WSH will be banned from playing hockey in the country and abroad.

“They (PHF) cannot ban us for playing in the WSH,” Rehan Butt, a former Pakistan captain, told ‘The News’ on Tuesday. “As hockey players it’s our right to play in professional leagues like the WSH,” added the prolific striker.

Butt, who was dumped by the PHF soon after Pakistan regained the Asian Games crown after a gap of 20 years in China in 2010, was recently recalled in the preliminary squad for the Olympic Games.

There were signs that he will be brought back to national duty for the London Games but Butt is not really optimistic about it.

“I played for Pakistan for so many years but the PHF just decided to dump me, one fine day. I was out for eight months without even a contract but nobody cared,” lamented Butt, who will be leading Chandigarh in their opening match against Bhopal on Wednesday (today).

One of the primary reasons why several leading Pakistani players have decided to risk their international careers is the fact that the WSH offer is too good to be turned down.

If Butt leads his team to the title, he will earn more than ten million rupees for one month’s work. He hasn’t earned that kind of money during his entire hockey career.

Even if his team fails to do well, Butt will make around five million rupees.

“I earn my bread and butter by playing hockey,” said Butt, one of Pakistan’s most celebrated forwards in recent times. “I have a family to look after.”

Perhaps more than Rehan Butt, it will be the defection of Shakeel Abbasi that will hurt Pakistan in the lead up to the Olympic. The mercurial striker was a frontrunner to become Pakistan’s Olympic captain but now he is expected to be banned.

Asif Bajwa, the PHF secretary, told ‘The News’ that the rebel players will be dealt with according to the PHF constitution. “Our stance is very clear about this issue,” he said. “Any player who plays in the league will be dealt with according to the PHF constitution.”

A few months back, the PHF amended its constitution which now allows the federation to ban any of its players who is linked with unsanctioned leagues.

The $2 million World Series Hockey will get underway from today with Chandigarh Comets taking on Bhopal Badshahs in Chandigarh in the opening match. The eight-team league which will run till April 3 is not recognised by the International Hockey Federation.

The other six teams in the league are Sher-E-Punjab (Jalandhar), Chennai Cheetahs, Pune Strykers, Delhi Wizards, Karnataka Lions (Bangalore) and Mumbai Marines. The tournament was supposed to start on December 17, 2011 but was postponed for two months after the Indian players requested the organisers to shift it so they could concentrate on the pre-Olympic qualifiers held from February 18-26 in New Delhi. All the WSH matches will be telecast live by Geo Super.