The Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) has lent its support to the Dutchman, who is facing severe criticism from former players after Pakistan finished with just a win over Olympic champions Argentina in the final edition of the prestigious six-nation event.
Former international player Zahid Sharif blamed Oltmans for the disappointing performance in the Champions Trophy and even accused him of fixing the round robin match against India.
“He (Oltmans) has been with the Indian hockey team and the Federation for a long time and his decision to withdraw the goalkeeper against India was to fix the match and allow the Indians to win,” Sharif alleged.
Former Olympian and captain Samiullah warned that if the performances of Pakistan in the Champions Trophy were an indicator, he feared the national team would even find it hard to beat minnows like Thailand and China in the Asian Games in August.
“I see no improvement in this team at all. We just went from bad to worse. The experiment with handing over all charge to Oltmans and his foreign coaches has not worked at all,” he lamented.
The PHF, however, has not bothered to take these allegations seriously. PHF officials have expressed overall satisfaction with the performance of the team, although Pakistan won just one game in the competition.
A PHF official said that Oltmans had been in charge of the team just for four months and in two events and it would be unfair to judge him on that basis.
“There is no going back. Oltmans will remain in charge for the coming Asian Games and World Cup, the official said.
Veteran Pakistan goalkeeper, Imran Butt, too, backed Oltmans, who has decided to remain back in the Netherlands for a few days.
“True we finished last but we put up good showings against top teams and there are visible signs of improvement in our set-up and thinking now,” Butt said.
Pakistan’s caretaker government, however, has taken the team’s poor show very seriously and have asked the PHF for a detailed report, warning them that special grants for hockey could be stopped immediately.
Meanwhile, the Pakistani players made a quiet return home from the Netherlands last night amidst growing calls for the sacking of Dutch head coach and other support staff
0 votes
