ARY Network attempts to revive hockey receives baseless allegations

The highly successful event was attended by various prominent personalities including Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah, Sports Minister Muhammed Bux Khan Mahar, former hockey player Shahbaz Senior and Chairman ARY Network Haji Iqbal. The permission to host the event was received from the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and the Government of Sindh.

READ MORE: WAPDA win final hockey match of Pakistan Cup

The event was an attempt to revive the national sport which has faced neglect and mismanagement, as result as which the Pakistan national team received an early exit from the World Cup, and did not even qualify for the ongoing Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The event drew huge crowds which brought back the glory of the stadiums, as part of which several other events were even organised including a family mela, dog show and a motorcycle race. This did not bode well for various rivals who accused ARY of damaging the precious Astroturf of the stadium.

Famous hockey player Shahbaz Senior who was also present during the event, while speaking to ARY News, said that he was delighted to see the event of such magnitude held in Karachi in the last twenty years which should be appreciated rather than criticized. He said that the Astroturf was in perfect condition and had received no damage. After the event, many people had found out that an international level stadium was even present in Karachi.

Olympian Waseem Feroz said that the astroturf was not delicate and previously a helicopter of the Prime Minister has landed at the stadium on the Astroturf which had received no damage. He said that the turf cannot be easily damaged by motorcycles and the people should come out in support of ARY Network.

It must be reminded that ARY Network has taken the responsibility to bring back the lost glory of the national sport, and rival channels should take similar initiatives as well for the benefit of the country rather than resort to negative propaganda, sensationalism and baseless allegations.