Karachi, February 16 The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), which has been facing criticism, has found itself in a difficult situation after the state-run Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) confirmed that it had provided the sports body with over 10 million rupees to arrange accommodation for the national team in Australia.
The PHF and PSB have been under pressure after it came to light that the Pakistan hockey team had to wait for 13-14 hours at Sydney airport because the federation had not arranged accommodation or food for the players and officials at the airport before their flight to Canberra.
The Pakistan team had a chaotic start to their FIH Pro League campaign after being left without accommodation upon arrival in Canberra, reportedly due to unpaid bills by the PHF.
After traveling for nearly 24 hours from Lahore to Australia's capital ahead of the second leg of the Pro League, the players and support staff reached the designated four-star hotel, where they were informed that there was no booking in their name.
The players had to wait outside the hotel with their luggage for several hours, before immigrant Pakistanis in Canberra arranged for cheap Airbnb accommodation.
The next day, Pakistan lost 2-2 in their first match against Australia.
The PSB has now released a photocopy of the cheque for 10 million and 5 lakh rupees it issued to the PHF on January 28 to pay for the hotel accommodation.
This confirms that the PSB had fulfilled its part by paying for the team's air tickets and also for the hotel accommodation, and had also provided advance daily allowances to the players.
The PSB took care of all expenses for the Pro League after the government approved a special grant of more than 30 million rupees for the tournament.
The PHF, on its part, continued to deny that the players and officials faced any difficulties in Australia and has labeled it as an attempt to demoralize the team.
This is not the first time that PHF officials have come under scrutiny for financial matters, and despite best efforts, no federation official was available for comment.
Pakistan also lost their last game in the FIH Pro League to Germany 0-3.
