Shahbaz Ahmed Senior, the ostensible secretary general of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), on Sunday denied reports that he had resigned from his post a day after PHF President Khalid Sajjad Khokhar shared the news.

Khokhar had, in a video message, announced accepting the PHF secretary general's resignation and the nomination of Asif Bajwa, former Olympian and PHF secretary, as Shahbaz's replacement.

He said that Shahbaz had resigned because he was unable to give enough time to the PHF due to his "assignment with Pakistan International Airlines". Bajwa is to take charge of the office on Monday.

Shahbaz Senior expressed astonishment over the reports, saying that he had learnt about his resignation through the media.

"I haven't issued any resignation," he said in a video message today. "Reports about my resignation are circulating on TV channels and newspapers but I don't know anything about it."

Shahbaz had turned in his resignation in December last year as well after Pakistan’s dismal show at the Hockey World Cup in India where they finished 11th.

In his resignation letter, he had cited the government's alleged apathy towards hockey and said that there was no infrastructure for the national sport in the country. He had further said that the PHF had no asset or a system in place for the generation of funds. The PHF had then turned down his resignation.