Zardari asks sports officials to take corrective steps

Karachi, March 18 (IANS) Controversies in cricket and hockey have forced Pakistan President Asif Zardari to issue orders to the country's sports authorities to take "concrete step" to arrest the decline.

According to a report in The News Thursday, Zardari has taken note of Pakistan's falling standards in sports and has termed it a major problem facing the country like the menace of load-shedding.

Quoting sources, the report said that Zardari - who is also the chief patron of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) - is unhappy with the way things are going in major sports like cricket, hockey and squash and wants concrete steps to be taken to make things better.

"The president has termed our country's sports decline as a major problem like load-shedding. He has lamented the national hockey team's poor performance in the World Cup and has also expressed concerns over the ongoing cricket controversies," a source said.

The president has asked the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Sports to give its suggestions and make recommendations to bring about improvement in the field of sports.

Sports in Pakistan has been hit hard in recent times with problems ranging from poor performance of the players to the incompetence of the people running games like cricket and hockey.

Meanwhile, the head of the National Assembly sports committee has asked Asif Bajwa - the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary - to resign over Pakistan's World Cup debacle.

"We will ask Asif Bajwa to step down as PHF secretary as our team failed miserably under his supervision," said Jamshed Dasti, chairman of the sports committee.

"If he will not quit, we will launch a campaign for his removal," added Dasti. "PHF needs change as it has become inevitable for betterment of national hockey," he stressed.

Dasti said that his committee might summon top PHF officials and players for a meeting later this month.

"We may summon PHF players and officials March 27 after the conclusion of National Assembly session," he concluded. Pakistan crashed to a catastrophic last-place finish in the Hockey in New Delhi following defeats against old rivals India, England, Australia and minnows South Africa and Canada.