Zafar laments decline in hockey

Bhopal, Apr 7 (UNI) Former Olympian Zafar Iqbal today lamented the decline in the standard of hockey in India and called for concerted efforts by Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) and other organisations to restore people's interest in the game.

''In the absence of top class hockey, people were attracted towards cricket. IHF and other organisations should take keen interest to organise national level matches,'' he told reporters here.

The former captain and coach of Indian hockey team said whenever Indian team lost, the coach was always blamed. IHF should also shoulder the responsibility. Frequent change of players and coach adversely affected the performance of the team, he said.

Stating that at present Indian team lacked good players particularly for left-out, right-out and centre forward positions, Zafar suggested that an apex body at the national level should be constituted to evaluate the performance of each player and to give suggestions.

Zafar also pleaded for organising a benefit match to raise fund for former hockey Olympian Shankar Laxman, who was undergoing treatment for gangrene on his leg.

UNI SHD PDS KP1558