KARACHI: Former Olympians, international hockey players and Member National Assembly Shehla Raza have demanded that the Prime Minister establish an an ad hoc setup in the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and remove the Director General of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), Yasir Pirzada.
The demand was made during a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Thursday, where Olympians Samiullah, Kaleemullah, Iftikhar Syed, Ayaz Mahmood and Naim Akhtar, along with several other former and current players, voiced serious concerns over the ongoing scrutiny and election process in the PHF.
Shehla, who is a member of the Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination and former PHF vice president, said that she does not accept the PHF elections being conducted under the current circumstances. Shehla recalled that during his previous tenure, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had issued a notification directing that PHF elections be held within two months and that 113 out of 500 identified corruption points be investigated by the FIA through two committees. However, she said that a committee formed under the supervision of the current Speaker of the National Assembly, Ayaz Sadiq, did not hold even a single meeting.
She further stated that after sustained efforts, the PHF issue was taken up by the Standing Committee on Inter-Provincial Coordination, whose sub-committee prepared a comprehensive report. This report was also approved by the Standing Committee and clearly stated that PHF elections were to be conducted by the Election Commission constituted by the Pakistan Sports Board.
According to Shehla, when the PHF unexpectedly initiated the election process on its own, the PSB issued a notification on December 16, 2025, directing the federation to halt the process and stating that scrutiny and elections were the responsibility of the PSB. However, she expressed surprise that on January 6, 2026, the PSB issued another notification instructing the PHF to complete the scrutiny of clubs by January 16 and submit a report by January 22.
Questioning this contradiction, she asked why the PSB had formed a three-member election commission if the elections were to be conducted by the “same corrupt group” within the PHF. She also questioned the role of the Standing Committee and the need for appointing a caretaker president in the federation.
Citing the Auditor General of Pakistan’s report, she stated that Tariq Bugti is a nominated, not elected, president of the PHF, a fact also supported by notifications issued during the caretaker government of Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar. She added that Olympian Rana Mujahid is also not an elected secretary, a position that, according to her, is not recognised as elected even by the PSB itself. She questioned how elections could be held under the supervision of such office-bearers.
