Hyderabad: Pakistan is facing a financial crisis currently and in a disheartening turn of events, the team had to take out a loan to purchase air tickets to travel to China. The hockey team had to travel to China for the Asian Champions Trophy and the recent sequence of events has highlighted the poor state of the sport. Notably, Pakistan won a silver medal at the Azlan Shah Cup a few months back.
Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Tariq Bugti confirmed to BBC that the team travelled on loan air tickets.
During a press briefing, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) president Tariq Bugti revealed that funds are expected to arrive soon. He also appealed to Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif to provide financial backing for the sport.
According to a report in the Free Press Journal, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has pledged to reimburse the PHF. The development comes after PSB recently declined financial aid to a training camp for the Pakistan under-18 baseball team.
The team’s financial struggle was evident after arriving in China as well. Their flight from Beijing was cancelled and so the team had to take a 300-kilometre road trip to their destination.
Pakistan’s team played a warmup fixture against China ahead of the tournament and played a 4-4 draw. Sufyan scored twice from Penalty Corners while Abdul Rahman and Emad Butt chipped in with one goal each.
Pakistan was considered a powerhouse in the sport winning a couple of Olympic gold medals and two World Cup titles. However, they have faced a significant decline and failing to qualify for the Paris Olympics was the lowest point in history.
