Lahore, 1 July 2022 (TDI): Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) President Brig (retd) Muhammad Khalid Sajjad Khokhar announced Pakistan Hockey League (PHL).
Unveiling Pakistan’s Flagship Hockey League https://t.co/p2rC6pRpYh
— Pakistan Hockey (PHF) (@PHFOfficial) June 30, 2022
The League will take place towards the end of this year in Lahore involving 5 city-based teams.
The league will consist of a total of five teams representing Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Peshawar over a period of three weeks.
It is a result of the past 6 years of continuous struggle and hard work. In February 2016, the PHF declared their wish for the Pakistani Hockey League. They planned to organize it, but it did not work out due to several reasons.
The Blue Dot – Pakistan’s premier marketing strategy specialist – and Design Room Sport- a London-based creative design agency, are selected by PHF to create the brand identity for the league.
While Salman Sarwar Butt has been appointed as Senior Advisor. Harris Jalil Mir will work as the Project Director-Franchise Hockey League for The Max.
President PHF Khokhar added that “we are working hard to ensure the financial viability of all the stakeholders investing in the league.”
Players from Germany, Argentina, Holland, Belgium, Spain, Korea, and Japan will feature in the league.
The league will serve as a platform to develop new talent. Moreover, the local players will get a chance to play alongside the top international stars.
This league is the first step towards reviving and regaining the lost glory of the golden hockey days of the national sport.
Pakistan captain Muhammad Umar Bhutta and the vice-captain also attended the ceremony.
Golden Era of Pakistan Hockey
Pakistan is the most successful country when it comes to its national sport. It is the only country in the world with a record of four championships in the World Cup (1971, 1978, 1982,1994).
Moreover, Pakistan has also been a silver medalist two times, in 1975 and 1990.
Former Pakistani captain Sohail Abbas holds the world record for the most international goals in international field hockey. It’s with a total of 348 goals.
Read More: Pakistan: A Sports-Loving Country
But lately, being a four-time world champion, Pakistan has failed to even qualify for the 2023 Men’s Hockey World Cup.
Men’s Hockey World Cup has now missed two of the last three Men’s Hockey World Cups and the last two Summer Olympic Games as well.
The 2018 World Cup was the last major global tournament the team had qualified for.
As of June 2022, Pakistan is ranked 18th by the FIH world ranking system.
