Eight hockey officials including four former Olympians appeared in court on Sunday on gambling charges. Police official Nasir Hameed said the eight were detained late Saturday and brought before a special court Sunday afternoon. "We raided a Lahore hotel and arrested eight people who were all hockey officials," Nasir Hameed, Station House Officer, told AFP.
The eight can be held in custody and interrogated for the next two weeks before appearing in court again, he added. Hameed, however, refused to elaborate on the nature of their alleged gambling. The Olympians arrested included Qamar Ibrahim, Kamran Ashraf, Danish Kaleem and Anjum Saeed.
Ibrahim, Ashraf and Kaleem were part of Pakistan's last World Cup-winning team in Australia in 1994. Ibrahim was recently appointed coach of Pakistan's junior team while Kaleem and Ashraf had also coached various national teams. The other officials - Mohammad Irfan, Irfan Zia, Rana Zaheer and Sohail Ashraf - are also currently associated with Pakistan Hockey Federation in various capacities.