Pakistan has been humiliated at an international platform yet again after the players of its national hockey team were left on the road in Canberra, the capital of Australia. As per reports, the Pakistan Hockey Federation failed to pay the bills for the hotel where the players were supposed to stay. The Hockey Federation reportedly did not have funds to pay the hotel bills on time.
As a result, the hockey team players, when they reached Canberra, found that their hotel bookings have been cancelled. The players had to spend several hours on the road.
The Pakistani hockey team is in Australia for the second leg of the FIH Pro League event in Hobart. As per reports, the team has already been struggling with form and performance, as they have failed to win even a single match in the event. The Pakistan side has lost all six matches played so far in the Pro League.
As per reports, the team was told that they had booked rooms at a four-star hotel in Canberra for the players and management staff, and the bills have been paid. But when the team arrived, they found out that the bills were unpaid and as a result the booking had been cancelled. Team coach Tahir Zaman could not contact the Hockey Federation officials due to the difference in time zones. The team, which had flown from Lahore on a long flight to reach Canberra, had no place to rest.
After several hours, the hotel staff finally allotted some rooms to the tired players. Since there were only a few rooms, the team had to divide the rooms accordingly and two and three players had to share a room to sleep. On the next day, the team lost their match with Australia by 2-3.
The Pakistan team is in Australia without a regular manager on this tour. The previous manager former Olympian Anjum Saeed was fired by the Hockey Federation after he was found smoking on a flight and had a altercation with airport crew.
It has been reported that the hockey team could finally manage to pay the hotel bills after some local Pakistani citizens were contacted, and they came forward to offer financial help.
This is not the first time the team has suffered due to financial reasons. As per reports, during the first phase of the FIH Pro League held in Argentina, the players were not paid even their daily allowances due to the alleged ‘lack of funds’.
