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Pakistan hockey team captain Ammad Butt has turned down an invitation to a luncheon hosted by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), citing insufficient travel expenses provided by the board.
The PSB had allotted a meagre Rs 5600 for Butt’s travel to Islamabad for the event.
However, the skipper refused to attend, stating the amount was inadequate even to cover the basic travel costs.
“This amount barely covers the toll expenses,” Ammad remarked while declining the invitation.
The luncheon was organised to honour athletes from various disciplines, with six members of the national hockey team among those invited.
Other than Ammad Butt, hockey team members Sufyan Khan, Rana Waheed, Abdullah, Muneeb ur Rehman, and Hannan Shahid were also invited to the event.
Top athletes from other sports were also on the guest list, including Olympic javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem and Commonwealth Games gold-medalist weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt.
It is worth noting that the Pakistan hockey team recently returned from Malaysia after finishing as runners-up in the FIH Nations Cup, where they lost the final 6-2 to New Zealand.
New Zealand produced a clinical display to outclass Pakistan in the title clash. Despite having two early goals disallowed, the Black Sticks found the net in the sixth minute through a penalty corner conversion by Scott Cosslett.
Sam Hiha then doubled the lead just before the end of the first quarter.
The Kiwis turned up the heat in the second quarter, adding three more goals via Dylan Thomas, Sean Findlay, and Scott Boyde to head into half-time with a commanding 5-0 lead.
Pakistan showed signs of a fightback in the third quarter, with Zikriya Hayat scoring their first goal. However, despite earning five penalty corners in that phase, they couldn’t convert further chances.
Cosslett struck again in the final quarter to make it 6-1 before Sufyan Khan pulled one back with a penalty corner conversion, but it was too little, too late.
New Zealand walked away with the FIH Nations Cup trophy, denying Pakistan a fairytale finish.
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