Outgoing Pak hockey team manager advises PHF to appoint foreign coach

Pakistan hockey team manager Hasan Sardrar, who resigned from the post after his team's forgettable campaign at the recently concluded Hockey World Cup, has advised the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) to appoint a foreign coach in order to build a strong side for the future.

"As my commitment [with the PHF] was till the World Cup, I have resigned from the post while suggesting the federation to hire foreign coach for national team if it wants to raise a strong outfit for future," Dawn quoted Sardrar, as saying.

Former Pakistan hockey player Tauqeer Dar served as the coach of the national side for their World Cup campaign but resigned soon after his team's ouster from the prestigious tournament. Dar had taken over the position from Dutch hockey coach Roelant Oltmans who had stepped down from the post in September, this year.

Sardrar acknowledged the contribution made by Oltmans to the national team and emphasised that Pakistan need a foreign coach to match the rising hockey standards.

"No doubt Oltmans had brought remarkable improvement in the Pakistan team's performance and fitness level. However, they could not carry on their assignment with the PHF and that had put a negative impact on our preparations for the World Cup," Hasan regretted.

"I still believe that a foreign coach is necessary for Pakistan because modern-day hockey entails higher-level coaching which is unfortunately [currently] not available in the country," he added.

Pakistan performed miserably throughout the World Cup where the green-shirts could not win even a single match. They crashed out of the prestigious event in the cross-over stage where they were handed over a 0-5 defeat by Belgium.