MULTAN, Oct 19 (Focus Pakistan) - The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) faces mounting calls for a sweeping governance overhaul, with prominent Olympians demanding an independent Pakistan Hockey Board even as the national team shows signs of recovery.
Olympian Tahir Zaman, national team head coach, threw his weight on Sunday behind a campaign to replace the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) with an independent Pakistan Hockey Board.
Zaman, a member of the squad that won the 1994 World Cup, called the board the “need of the hour.” He told APP that if the current system had failed to deliver, a new governance model made sense. He urged the government to act “without delay” if an empowered board could fix hockey’s administrative and financial problems.
He pointed to the Pakistan Cricket Board as the model, arguing that hockey also needs a strong, autonomous authority to run its own affairs.
The idea did not start with Zaman. Pakistan Hockey Foundation President Mir Tariq Hussain Bugti first floated it at a news conference in Quetta.
The most striking backer works inside the federation itself. PHF Secretary Rana Mujahid, an Olympian, has publicly supported a reformed, independent structure, according to APP. Former captain Shahbaz Ahmed Sr. has also lent support.
None of them has published a plan. The proposal leaves the board’s legal status, leadership selection, funding and relationship with the International Hockey Federation (FIH) unexplained.
ROCK BOTTOM, THEN A REBOUND
The case for change rests on a brutal season. Pakistan entered the 2025-26 FIH Pro League only after New Zealand withdrew over money. It lost all 16 matches, finished last of nine and dropped out. France, the Nations Cup winner, takes its place in the 2026-27 edition.
Results have improved since. Pakistan qualified for its first World Cup since 2018 and finished 11th in Belgium and the Netherlands in August, its best placing in 20 years. On Oct. 3 it beat South Korea 5-3 for bronze at the Asian Games in Japan, after a 4-3 semi-final loss to India.
That rebound complicates the campaign. Reformers must now explain why Pakistan needs a new body just as the team starts winning again.
The dugout tells its own story. Zaman quit as head coach in November 2025, days before a World Cup qualifying series in Bangladesh, after a dispute with PHF officials over player discipline. Muhammad Usman took over on an interim basis. Khawaja Junaid led the team at the March qualifiers, and Manzoor ul Hassan took charge in April.
In August, hours before the World Cup squad departed, the PHF named Dutch goalkeeping coach Bob Veldhof head coach. His compatriot Herman Kruis, originally named to the job, returned home.
That makes four head coaches in nine months, not counting the appointee who never took the job.
THE CRICKET QUESTION
The PCB comparison carries weight. Cricket’s board runs its own commercial deals and broadcast rights. Hockey has long depended on government grants and on officials whose day jobs sit elsewhere. The current PHF president, Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani, also serves as federal secretary for inter-provincial coordination.
A new name will not by itself fix funding, domestic competition or youth pathways. The reformers’ next task is to show how a Pakistan Hockey Board would succeed where the federation struggled, and to do it before the 2028 Olympic qualifiers.
