The Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium Scandal: A Blame Game

 

Musarrat Ullah Jan – KikxNow .Digital Creator

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa News may have broken the story, but the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Sports Directorate, in a departure from their customary sluggishness, has answered an RTI (Right to Information) query about poor quality work on the machinery and turf of the Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium, indicating substandard work. In their response (Number 17/RTI/2025/898-900), sent to journalist Musarrat Ullah Jan on July 18, 2025, they simply wrote: "The project of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) was completed, therefore, they are responsible."

But this answer neatly excludes any reference to cost, length, or supervising officers. And it also ignores the KP Sports Directorate's task of sanctioning, transferring, or reporting on the project.

Lala Ayub Hockey Stadium, which was one time a bustling center for national hockey greats, is now the emblem of lost money, opaque shopping, and secretive decision-making, all in the name of a "renovation project." The turf itself is dubious, with malfunctioning equipment and both the Hockey Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Women's Directorate questioning its baseline. In spite of all these problems, the equipment has been "repaired" twice by a caretaker. In one case, a citizen even approached the complaint cell after the caretaker reportedly drilled a hole into the machine rather than fix it, for 9,000 rupees.

Unanswered Questions and Passing the Buck

The episode leaves a string of unanswered questions:

How much did it cost to repair it?

Who was the contractor company or person?

Where are the work orders and invoices?

Were water bottles indeed used to power the machines, as an urban myth went?

Has there been any investigation into these claims?

Where is the duplicate of the dissenting note to ex-DG Khalid Khan, and what happened to it?

When and under what circumstances was the control of the stadium handed over to the KP Directorate and who formally authorized it?

Where were the ancient fences and fountains relocated, how many were taken down, and were they donated to anyone? If so, to whom and on what grounds?

Interestingly, the PSB transferred the land and made payments to the contractor while ignoring the concerns raised. The two institutions are attempting to clear themselves of blame, as if money belonging to the people should not belong to anyone! This definitely indicates mismanagement, ill-will, and profound financial corruption.

Sports circles are calling for the PSB and KP Sports Directorate to jointly release all information, budget documents, work orders, and minutes of meetings. The KP Information Commission should now take cognizance of this contempt of RTI appeals and this outright "blame-shifting" mentality.

Action needs to be taken against the officers who have breached the RTI Act. Dodging an RTI query is actually a confession of corruption. If a provincial organization says "we know nothing" about a project under its own watch, then people should realize that transparency is only a myth and accountability a slogan. The whispers from Lala Ayub Stadium are no longer of games, but of silent looting and hidden doors.

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