Peshawar Zalmi bail out the Pakistan Hockey team ahead of the World Cup in India

Pakistan’s participation in the Hockey World Cup was under the clouds until very recently. The national hockey body was running out of resources and they found it tough to get any financial aids. The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) also turned down their request for help last week. However, just as all the doors seem to be shut, Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchise, Peshawar Zalmi came to the rescue.

Peshawar will sponsor the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) till 2020. The Hockey World Cup is slated to commence on November 28 in Bhubaneshwar, India. With the sponsorship deal now struck, the Men in Green will now fly to India to participate in the tournament.

PHF secretary delighted with Peshawar Zalmi offering the assistance

PHF secretary Shahbaz Ahmed, on Monday, informed that Peshawar Zalmi owner Javed Afridi has signed a major sponsorship deal that will run till 2020. This sponsorship deal will cover all international tours of senior and junior national teams as well as domestic hockey. Shahbaz Ahmed said that it was a huge relief for them and thanked Zalmi’s owner Javed Afridi.

“It is a big relief for us. Javed Afridi, who owns the Peshawar Zalmi franchise has signed the sponsorship deal to uplift Pakistan hockey on behalf of his company, Haier Pakistan,” Shahbaz said.

“Pakistan team is going to India for the World Cup. Now we are just waiting for the visas of our players and officials,” he added.

Ahmed, however, refused to disclose the sponsorship amount. He said that the deal would help them clear the outstanding dues of the players. They weren’t paid the allowances for the Asian Champions Trophy and the other recent camps.

Pakistan is placed in Pool D for the mega tournament. They will be joined by the likes of Germany, Malaysia and the Netherlands in the same pool. Their campaign commences on 1 December 2018, with the game against Germany.

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