Pakistan Hockey Federation

History

Hockey was originally brought to Pakistan under British rule, and like cricket soon became popular with the local population.

The Pakistan Hockey Federation came into being in 1948, following the independence of Pakistan in 1947. Prior to this players from what is now Pakistan had competed internationally alongside players from what is now India. In the beginning, the Federation's membership included the Provincial Hockey/Sports Associations of West Punjab, East Bengal, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalpur & Services Sports Board. Pakistan played their first international in London when they defeated Belgium 2-1 in 14th Olympic Games hockey tournament on 2 August 1948.

The first President of PHF was Ghazanfar Ali Khan with Baseer Ali Sheikh as Honorary Secretary. The Pakistan national side soon established a strong reputation in international competition, helping to maintain interest in the game in Pakistan which assisted the growth of the Federation. However, no full-time central office or secretariat, as such, was established until the 1960s.

The office of the Pakistan Hockey Federation, located in National Hockey Stadium, Lahore was developed into a Secretariat in 1971. It was during the second term as president of Air Marshal Nur Khan from 1978 that Pakistani hockey entered something of a golden age. National Senior, National Junior and Women Hockey Teams were all competing internationally, increasing the work load of PHF Office and secretary Brigadier M. H. Atif tremendously.

On the personal initiative of Air Marshal M. Nur Khan, the FIH introduced the World Cup Tournament and the Champions Trophy Tournament, which are now rated amongst the major international tournaments, alongside the Olympics. At this time, Pakistan held all the major titles in men's international hockey.

However, the 1976 Olympics in Montreal had seen the introduction of artificial turf to international hockey competition. Pakistan was unable to build as many of the new pitches as the European nations or Australia and New Zealand and so the strength of the national side declined. It was after a lapse of 12 years that the Pakistan Hockey Team again started climbing and won the Champions Trophy and the World Cup with Air Vice Marshal Farooq Umar as president and Colonel Mudassar as secretary of the Federation.

AVM Farooq Umar President of PHF 1993-1996

AVM Farooq Umar was also elected President of Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF). It was during his tenure that he resurrected 'Pakistan Hockey' and helped it win the “World Champions Trophy” and the “World Cup Sydney 94” after a long lapse of 14 years . (Since he left his position as President of Pakistan Hockey Federation, Pakistan has not been able to win these titles although another 16 long years have since elapsed. His success depended on upfront leadership and the ability to motivate the players right in the playfield.

The PHF has provincial teams who play against each other such as:

Presidents

1. Raja Ghazanfar Ali Khan (1948–50)
2. Chaudhry Nazir Ahmed (1950–52)
3. Khan Abdul-Qayyum Khan (1952–54)
4. Nawab Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani (1955–56)
5. Mian Naseer Ahmed (1956–59)
6. General Muhammad Musa (1960–66)
7. Air Marshal Nur Khan (1967–69)
8. Lieutenant General Khwaja Mohammad Azhar Khan (1969–71)
9. Nawab Sadiq Hussain Qureshi (1971–76)
10. Air Marshal Nur Khan (1976–84)
11. Air Vice-Marshal Waqar Azeem (1984–86)
12. Air Marshal Azim Daudpota (1986–90)
13. Air Chief Marshal Farooq Feroze Khan (1990–91)
14. M Nawaz Tiwana (1991–93)
15. Air Vice-Marshal Farooq Umar (1993–96)
16. M Nawaz Tiwana (1996–97)
17. Akhtar Rasool Chaudhry (1997–99)
18. Arif Ali Khan Abbasi (1999–2000)
19. General Aziz Khan (2000–05)
20. Tariq Kirmani (2005–06)
21. Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali (2006–2008)
22. Qasim Zia (2008-2013)
23. Akhtar Rasool (2013-2015)
24. Brig.Rt Khalid S. Khokhar (2015–Present)

Secretaries

1. General Baseer Ali Sheikh (1948–54)
2. Syed M Ayub (1954–55)
3. Mian Raziuddin Ahmed (1955–60)
4. Brigadier Riaz Hussain (1960–62)
5. Aurangzeb Khan (1962–64)
6. Lieutenant Colonel Zafar Ali Khan (1964–67)
7. Wing Commander Masood Ahmed (1967–69)
8. Iftikhar Rasool Mali (1969–70)
9. Major Khurshid Zaman (1970–72)
10. Dr. Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool (1972–73)
11. Shamim Yazdani (1973)
12. M Sharif Janjua (1973–74)
13. Captain Syed Naseer Ahmed (1974–75)
14. Sardar Asif Hayat (1975–78)
15. Brigadier MH Atif (1978–89)
16. Brigadier A Hamid Hameedi (1989–92)
17. Colonel Syed Mudasir Asghar (1993–99)
18. Brigadier MH Atif (1999–2000)
19. Zahir Shah (2000)
20. Brigadier Musaratullah Khan (2000–06)
21. Akhtarul Islam (2006–07)
22. Khalid Memood (2007–08)
23. Muhammad Asif Bajwa (2008–2013)
24. Mujahid Ali Rana (2013–2015)
25. Shahbaz Ahmed (2015–Present)

Olympics

Hockey World Cup

Hockey Champions Trophy

Notable players