Dutch Michel van den Heuvel has been appointed as new coach of the Pakistan men's team. Van den Heuvel, who coached Netherlands until the Hero Honda FIH World Cup, signed a contract until the 2012 London Olympic Games.
The Federal Sports Ministry of Pakistan has given the approval to appoint Van den Heuvel. The new coach will join the training camp of Pakistan Hockey Team on 21 June Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium Karachi.
Van den Heuvel guided the Netherlands to a bronze medal at the Hero Honda FIH World Cup this year. Van den Heuvel will be Pakistan's third foreign coach, succeeding fellow Dutchmen Hans Jorritsma, appointed in 1994, and Roelant Oltmans in 2000.
The Secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Muhammad Asif Bajwa said that the decision to appoint Van den Heuvel was taken after serious deliberation: ÔÇÿThe PHF has decided to take every measure to revive our fortune and providing a foreign coach was one of them. So we have taken this decision in the best interest of the game.'
He said that ÔÇÿthe PHF thinks that this is the only way to get back to the top and we will give the news coach complete support and are sure that he is capable of delivering.'
Source: PHF
