ISLAMABAD: Mari Petroleum Azadi Hockey Cup will be played from August 8 to 14 at Mari Petroleum Astroturf Hockey Stadium Ayub Park, Rawalpindi, Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) announced on Wednesday.
The top eight teams from the PHF rankings will participate in this mega domestic event, which is taking place in collaboration with Mari Petroleum Sports Department, said a PHF press release said.
The teams include Pakistan Wapda, National Bank of Pakistan, Sui Southern Gas, Pakistan Navy, Mari Petroleum Company Limited, Pakistan Air Force, Punjab and Pakistan Army.
The PHF has appointed umpires and technical officials to conduct the event in accordance with the rules of the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The 1984 Olympics gold medallist, Olympian Ayaz Mahmood has been appointed Tournament Director while International Technical Officers Muhammad Shafiq Bhatti (Lahore) and Muhammad Yaseen (Rawalpindi) will be the Assistant Tournament Directors.
Tournament Officers include Dr. SA Majid (Karachi), M. Javed Sadiq (MEPCO), Hamza Tufail (Peshawar), Aslam Shah (Okara), Muhammad Ali (Quetta), Ikram-ul-Haq (Nankana Sahib), Ghulam Mustafa (Hyderabad), Murtaza Bhatti (MPCL), Zulfiqar Hussain (Sukkur), Muhammad Ashraf (Islamabad), Haroon Saeed (DG Khan), Naseer Ahmad Mughal (Islamabad), Nisar Aslam (MPCL), Haji Naeem (M PCL), M Muneeb (MPCL), Dawar Ali (MPCL), Mehboob Alam (MPCL) and Shahid Gul (Faisalabad) will perform their professional duties during the event.
FIH Umpire Rashid Mehmood Butt has been assigned as the event’s umpires’ manager while Ehsaanul Haq (Rawalpindi) and Dilawar Hussain Bhatti (WAPDA) will be the assistant umpires’ manager. The umpiring panel is consisted of Abdul Manan (Hyderabad), Mahmood Ali (PIA), Haroon Rashid (Peshawar), Sabteen Raza (National Bank), Abdul Wali (Quetta), Mohammad Imran (Bahawalpur), Takrim Iftikhar (Karachi), Mohammad Bilal (Army), Asad Abbas (Army) and Zahid Hameed (WAPDA).
Lt. Col. (r) Asif Naz Khokhar has been appointed as the Coordinator of PHF while Habib-ur-Rehman Satti will be the Assistant Coordinator.