All hockey players were out of shape for World Cup

ISLAMABAD Except Umer Bhutta, all other players were not in shape to be featured in the World Cup 2010 competition, said a report that was presented by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) in the standing committee on sports here on Friday.
Hasan Sardar, who was the chief selector of the national team, said that he was not aware about this report. We selected the national outfits for world cup on merit and this was the best available slot. I was not expecting that green shirts would overcome Spain after losing to arch-rival India 4-1 in the opening match, he said.
Earlier, Senator Traiq Azeem highlighted this report in the house and said that the selection committee had selected unfit players for the World Cup 2010. Umer Bhutta was the loan player hundred percent fit for the international match. We should not send this unhealthy team for world cup which brought last position in the 12-national hockey showpiece, he added.
Later, the standing committee expressed satisfaction over the performance of president PHF Qasim Zia and advised him to pick up a capable management to run the affairs of the federation. The committee met on Friday here at the Parliament House in the chair of its head Senator Abdul Ghaffar Qureshi.
All four members of the committee including Haroon Akhtar Khan, Tariq Azeem Khan, Syed Tahir Mushadi and Enver Baig jointly said that it was time to strengthen the hands of Qasim who did a lot for the promotion of game in the country. Qasim is working hard and getting good financial support for the hockey, they said.
Meanwhile, chairman Abdul Ghaffar presented a tribute to the services of the PHFs chief.
Senators also requested government to enhance the sports budget particularly hockey to train the players as the hockey is our national.
Earlier, Qasim Zia told members of committee that the federation was doing its best to uplift the standard of hockey in the country. We were fourth at the Asian level when I took over the PHF. But we were runner-ups of the last Asia Cup 2009. The things are improving day by day, he said.
Our target was not World Cup 2010 but we were preparing our lads for Asian Games. However, our players performed blew the par and I was not expecting this performance.
We did not play international matches with Germany, Holland and Australia which would be helpful for the preparation of the mega event, he added.
Qasim Zia informed the senators that he had offered Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, Samiullah and Islauddin to come in the federation to contribute for the hockey but all refused to take any responsibility. The PHF has a constitution and I will not take a single action which may violate the constitution, he said.