Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Mohsin Naqvi has come out in support of Pakistan hockey players amid the Australia tour fiasco and the suspension of captain Ammad Shakeel Butt. The whole controversy began with players lashing out at the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) for “abandoning” them during the tour of Australia for the FIH Hockey Pro League 2025-26.

According to the players, they were forced to
spend hours on the streets in Australia as no hotel was booked for them. They were also forced to cook for themselves and clean the utensils during their stay in an Airbnb.

Amid the serious allegations, PHF president Tariq Bugti sent his resignation to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, but he also suspended captain Ammad Shakeel Butt for two years.

PCB, Naqvi extend support to Pakistani hockey players

The hockey players, however, have found support in the country’s Interior Minister, Naqvi, who is also PCB’s boss. He said on Thursday that Pakistan cricket will try to “accommodate” hockey players in every possible way.

“We will accommodate hockey players in every possible way. We will extend complete cooperation to streamline hockey affairs,” Naqvi said.

“You should focus only on the game. Pakistan’s honour comes first. We will not allow the country’s dignity to be compromised under any circumstances,” Naqvi told the hockey players in a meeting.

Naqvi also clarified on X that he is not taking over the charge at the Pakistan Hockey Federation, but will assist the players.

“I am not becoming Hockey Federation President, but we will assist players till this turmoil ends,” Naqvi wrote on X.

A PCB statement has also revealed that the cricket board distributed Pakistani rupees 1,000,000 to each player of the national team, according to Dawn.

Butt revealed after meeting Naqvi that his suspension will be reversed and PCB will help arrange a camp in Lahore to prepare for the Hockey World Cup qualifiers.

Pakistan’s hockey captain, Shakeel Ammad Butt, has made a strong appeal to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir over the “serious mismanagement” faced by the team during their tour of Australia.

Speaking to the media, Butt said the players were left “mentally drained” and “helpless” due to poor arrangements by the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and the team management in Australia during the FIH Hockey Pro League 2025-26.

“We cannot work with this management. They have made us mentally ill. How can we perform for Pakistan? When we qualified for the Pro Hockey League, I helped the team with the Pakistan Hockey Federation. It is a great achievement for Pakistan to qualify for the Pro Hockey League after 7 years. When we came back from Argentina, things started getting worse instead of getting better,” Butt said.

He described the tour of Australia as a nightmare. “When I talk about the tour of Australia, I will start with the flight and hoteling. The flight that took us to Sydney, took us more than 12-14 hours. We were roaming around like abandoned people. No one cared about our team. There was no hoteling. We were not given food on time,” he added.

Butt also admitted that he had lied in a video during the tour to avoid embarrassment for Pakistan. “The management told us that the news and videos had reached India. I made a video saying everything was fine, but the reality was completely different. Everything reported was true,” he said.

“I am talking about the team management. Tahir Zaman, Sheikh Usman, Nadeem Khan Lodhi, Dishan Ashraf and Aslam. I am not afraid of anything. They have separated the players and asked each player whether he is with the Pakistan Hockey Federation or Ammad Butt. I am ready to testify about this.”

BIG EMBARRASSMENT for Pakistan – Hockey captain Ammad Shakeel Butt admits “he lied on video” during the Australia tour, saying he was pressured by team management to claim everything was fine.

During the FIH Pro League in Sydney, Pakistan players had no hotel bookings, waited… pic.twitter.com/RvZTOzePBF

— Manish Pangotra🇮🇳 (@ManishPangotra5) February 19, 2026

Butt urges Pakistan Army Chief to intervene 

Butt said Pakistan needs urgent intervention from the top and proper management. “The World Cup qualifying round is a very important round for the Pakistan Hockey Federation and the Pakistan players. I think that the government of Pakistan should take action on this as soon as possible. We have very little time. We cannot work with this management. My team is with me. It is a very important round. We have to qualify for the World Cup. I request the Prime Minister and the Army Chief to take notice of this as soon as possible.,” he said.

Following Butt’s statements, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has ordered an inquiry into the alleged mismanagement.