Hockey Players Welfare Association (HPWA) condemned the hockey federation’s decision to suspend four national players and demanded the suspensions be withdrawn and replaced with a more amicable solution yesterday.
At a hurriedly organised press conference at the gate of the Maulana Bhashani Naional Hockey Stadium, general secretary of the association Ariful Haque Prince and treasurer Tabib-e-Noor said that the players were victims of the wraith of a number of federation officials. “All the four players - Russell Mahmud Jimmy, Zahid Hossain, Imran Hasan Pintu and Qamruzzaman Rana - are first choice players of the national hockey team and their suspension is not accepted by the hockey players. It’s also worth mentioning that the federation earlier suspended Ashiquzzaman, Shamsuddin Tuhin, Asaduzaman Chandan and they are also former national players. These kinds of actions are taking hockey towards disaster,” Prince declared.
He added that all four players were committed to play for Mohammedan and the secretary of the hockey federation Khwaja Rahmatullah has always tried to control them because they have been vocal pointing in out the many anomalies in the federation’s dealings. “A number of federation officials - Yusuf Ali, Mamunur Rashid and Mahbub Ehsan Rana - are the main architects behind the act. They are close to the general secretary, who is a controversial figure and has triggered the actions.”
Prince suggested that a group of unbiased people should discuss the situation with the federation’s president to decide what to do. “We believe the president of the hockey federation has been misguided by a number of people. We demand reconsideration of the decisions. Why should the players be banned from local hockey? That’s not the way to treat players who have served the national team with distinction,” said Prince, who was granted bail last month in a case the federation filed against him.
Jimmy said they have been made scapegoats for the teams’ failures and others had been let off. “Umpire Selim Lucky carried the bottle of lacquer which was brought by the manager. Since he is the vice president of the federation, this was not investigated and I don’t know why I’ve been suspended from local hockey,” said the star forward.
