ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has been vocal about its financial constraints hindering participation in international competitions.
However, according to a letter from the PHF itself, the federation holds a bank balance amounting to millions of rupees.
Reliable sources indicate that the PHF requested government funds to cover expenses totalling $51,296 for accommodation at a hotel in Kuala Lumpur during the “FIH Hockey Men’s Nations Cup 2025.” This request was made despite the federation’s substantial bank reserves.
In response, the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) took the initiative to arrange air tickets for the national team’s participation in the event only.
Later on, PHF informed the Pakistan Sports Board that it has required funds for hotel accommodation in its account, seeking NOC for remitting the foreign currency for the said payment from the Finance Ministry and State Bank of Pakistan.
It’s noteworthy that over the past two years, the PSB has disbursed a significant sum of Rs119.667 million to the PHF.
Sources in PSB stated that despite multiple written reminders, the federation has failed to submit any auditable financial accounts. Consequently, in a board meeting held in December 2024, the PSB decided to withhold any additional funding until the PHF ensures financial transparency.
Sources reveal that the PSB has compiled a detailed report on the matter and forwarded it to the Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination for further high-level deliberation.
When contacted DG PSB Yasir Pirzada, he refused to comment on PHF affairs, however, he said that the PSB had decided that now onward only those federations which will provide complete details of audited account would be provided funding.
“We have linked funding with the performance of federations and audit of already provided funds. No new funds will be released for any federation until the record of previously allocated funds is provided,” he said.
The previous federation faced serious corruption allegations that resulted in the initiation of an inquiry by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
In February this year, a group of Olympians demanded the federal government to pursue the FIA inquiry for a logical conclusion.
Olympian Nasir Ali, Ayaz Mahmood, Khalid Bashir, Kaleemullah and others during their press talk in Islamabad in February demanded an early conclusion of the probe by FIA.
The Olympians claimed that PHF from year 2008 to 2024 received more funds than the fund it received from 1947 to 2008. FIA is probing 113 audit paras of PHF worth Rs1.25 billion.
