Pakistan hockey team captain Ammad Shakeel Butt launched a scathing attack on the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and team management on Tuesday, accusing them of lying to players, suppressing their voices, and subjecting them to demeaning living conditions during the recent Australia tour.

 

Speaking to media at Lahore airport after the team's return, Butt held nothing back. "The team management told us many lies," he said. "I cannot work with the current management at all."

 

Butt described conditions in Australia as humiliating. Players had to wake up each morning to clean kitchens, wash dishes, scrub washrooms, and do their own laundry before heading to the field. "If a player wakes up in the morning and cleans the kitchen and washes dishes, what will he play on the field?" he asked.

 

He also said players were threatened into silence. "We were told not to speak to the media or face a ban," he said, adding that he rejects the PHF's code of conduct entirely. "I am under no pressure."

 

The captain pushed back against claims made by head coach Tahir Zaman and other officials, calling their statements "baseless and a pack of lies." 

 

He said the PHF tried to split the squad by asking each player individually whether they stood with the federation or their captain. "The entire team is standing with me," Butt said.

 

He stressed that finding sponsors is the PHF's job, not his, and called for an urgent inquiry into how players were treated. He also said Pakistan desperately needs a foreign coach to put the team back on track.

 

Director General of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), Noorish Sabah, who received the team at the airport, backed the players' account. 

 

She confirmed that the PSB had arranged and paid for hotel bookings in Australia, which the PHF later cancelled. "If food and accommodation are not in order, it directly affects players' performance," she said.

 

Sabah said that a full inquiry report would be sent to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, who has already taken note of the mismanagement.