Politics in sports galore, Saqlain faces possible ban

Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Saqlain is facing a possible ban following his accusation that a top hockey federation official is forcing him to retire.

Saqlain was on Friday issued a show cause notice by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) over his media outburst against its secretary Asif Bajwa. The notice was issued by Shahid Parvez Bhandara, chairman of PHF’s disciplinary committee for “commenting against the PHF in the media”. Saqlain has been asked to submit his explanation by August 11 and to appear before the seven-man committee the next day.

Saqlain launched a scathing attack against Bajwa after he was left out of a 31-man training squad for the 2010 World Cup Qualifiers. The Lahore-based midfielder alleged that Bajwa held a personal grudge against him and was conspiring to end his international career. He has been accused by the PHF committee of bringing a bad name for the game’s governing body in Pakistan. The committee includes Iqbal Qasim, Rana Mujahid Ali, Sagheer Ahmad, Gulfraz Ahmad, Rana Shakir and Zahir Shah.

Pakistan sports lovers were already deeply hurt on the Pakistan cricket debacle in Sri Lanka allegedly due to internal rifts in the team and now this unfortunate development in the Pakistan hockey has come as a bolt from the blue, will Pakistan sports ever come out of such intrigues within?