CAS Rejects Pakistani Hockey Captain’s Appeal

KARACHI, 7 May 2006 — The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld a three-match ban on Pakistan’s field hockey captain for rash onfield behavior, officials said yesterday.

They also fined captain Mohammad Saqlain, $3,000 for hitting Australian player Craig Victory in a match in Germany in August last year.

“The CAS has rejected Saqlain’s appeal and the decision was announced on Saturday,” Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) secretary Brigadier Musarratullh Khan told AFP.

Saqlain, 30, will miss Pakistan’s first three matches in the International Hockey Federation’s Champions Trophy in Spain in July this year, he said.

He, however, will be eligible to play in the eight-nation Azlan Shah Trophy in Kuala Lumpur next month as the event does not fall in FIH jurisdiction. The temperamental mid-fielder has a history of violent behavior. He was also banned for one match for hitting South Korean player Soon Hoon-yoon in the face during a tournament in Malaysia in May last year.

Saqlain was left out of the Pakistan team on the eve of the 2000 Sydney Olympics for alleged misconduct.

He was also expelled from the team by former Pakistan coach Roelant Oltmans a week before its departure for the Athens Olympics in 2004 after he hit team-mate Adnan Maqsood during training.

Pakistan, a three-time Olympic and four time world champion, has suffered a slump in the hockey standings in recent years and have lost all their titles including the Asia champion tag in the last decade.

A Pakistani forward, Tariq Aziz, was sent off twice in the Commomwealth Games in Australia in March this year.

The PHF banned Aziz from all national and international hockey for six months.