Pak hockey stars in soup for partying with girls

Karachi, Dec 24: Partying with foreign girls during the just concluded Champions Challenge in Argentina has landed Pakistani hockey players in a big trouble.

The Pakistan National Assembly's Standing Committee on Sports has taken a strong note of reports about some of the star hockey players and team officials partying with some local girls in Argentina.

Committee Chairman, Jamshed Dasti has called for a stern action against the players and the team officials, who were pictured hugging local girls, drinking.

"First they lost the tournament, but that's sports. But what is appalling are those pictures in which players were merrymaking and having fun with Argentine girls. We cannot tolerate such immoral acts. And this all happened in the presence of team manager and coach. Were they in Argentina to tarnish country's image," The Dawn quoted Dasti, as saying.

In one of the pictures, goalkeeper Salman Akbar was apparently seen with a bottle of alcoholic drink, while his other teammates and team officials could be seen posing with girls in a discotheque.

Dasti said he would summon the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials within a week to respond to the charges.

"While the officials will be punished for their unprofessional behaviour, the players will also get penalised. I want to give them (PHF and the players) a message that this is not on and we cannot ignore such immoral activities," he added.

However, star forward player Rehan Butt has rebuffed the charges and has blamed the media for blowing the issue out of proportion.

"As far as the pictures with the girls are concerned, one of the ladies was our liaison officer while other one her friend. I must say it is all rubbish. It has been blown out of proportion. We indeed had some pictures with that lady but that's all," Butt said.

ANI