A few days ago the federal minister for inter-provincial coordination (IPC) Riaz Pirzada told me that the government is going to establish a sports university to produce skilled manpower so that sports could be served in the most effective way. He said that federal finance minister Ishaq Dar had told him that the government would finance the varsity, which would be established in Islamabad.
If the step is taken it will really bring a major change as a healthy pool of sports scientists and sports management experts will be prepared who will be able to serve sports at different levels.
In Pakistan’s current sports system no one knows exactly how sports are run and properly governed. That is why the country has suffered a lot in international circuit.
One of my friends, who is studying sports sciences in England, told me the other day that if he is given the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) he can help put the game on the road to improvement within a year.
He said that with the current system Pakistan could not develop its sports. He claimed that the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) were least interested in sports promotion. He said that they would have to change their priorities and work selflessly for sports development. He said that both bodies were clueless about their duties and did not know what to do. Pakistan has already lost its status in international sports. Hockey and squash, in which Pakistan once ruled the world, have been destroyed and nobody knows how Pakistan can regain the lost the glory in these disciplines.
In the Rio Olympics to be held in Brazil later this summer only a few players will be competing -- and that too thanks to wild card entries -- except Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain who has virtually qualified after taking part in qualifiers during the last two years.
Shah’s Olympic fate will be confirmed by International Judo Federation (IJF) on May 30.
It is not likely that any sea change will be seen in the coming few years in Pakistan’s sports system unless the current sports culture is reformed.
But Pakistan can still achieve some targets if a few important areas are given attention.
Pakistan has an abundance of talent, particularly in individual sports. Arshad Nadeem, a 19-year-old javelin thrower has achieved the fourth rank in the IAAF Under-20 world rankings released recently. If the boy is properly trained and groomed he can easily turn out to become an Olympic level athlete.
Athlete Mohammad Afzal, who won gold in Qatar last year in the Asian Youth Athletics Championship in triple jump, can also become a world class fighter.
A few days ago 17-year-old weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt lifted 212 kilogramme weight in clean and jerk in the National Weightlifting Championship which is an extraordinary effort.
Young wrestler Mohammad Bilal won bronze medal in the world qualifying round for Rio Olympics held in Turkey a few days ago.
Yasmin Maryam Khan, a 16-year-old US-based taekwondo player, who won gold medal in the South Asian Games early this year in India, is also a bright future prospect.
Similarly, Dubai-based swimmer Lianna Swan is an outstanding talent. She became the first woman swimmer to win gold for Pakistan in the South Asian Games in India in February this year. She is also expected to represent Pakistan in Rio Olympics on wild card.
A few of our boxers can turn out to be world-class fighters. We have also highly talented young shooters. If the government and federations join hands and start working seriously on these and a few other budding junior players, a few of them will be able to compete at the Olympic level in the next few years.
But it is not an easy job. It is a resource-intensive exercise. It needs commitment from the government, the relevant federations and the parents of the players.
The best option would be training such players in international academies for a specific time every year.
Working on team sports is tougher. Pakistan can become a powerhouse of Asia in volleyball as the country has a lot of talent in the discipline.
Handball and football are the other team sports in which Pakistan can grow fast.
But for achieving any big goal the differences among the stakeholders will have to be eliminated. Politics has destroyed Pakistan’s sports. Three of the last four years were wasted because of the conflict between the POA and the PSB over the implementation of national sports policy. Who won the battle? None! All were losers as Pakistan’s sports suffered and when sports suffer the stakeholders are the ultimate losers.
Some sources told me that some of those federations which were against the POA during the government’s tussle with the POA are expected to face tough time from the National Olympic Committee (NOC) in the near future.
If that happens, it will be wrong. If any action against Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) and Pakistan Cycling Federation (PCF) and a few others is taken it will be a violation of the instructions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) which played a key role in the unification of all sports fraternity of Pakistan before the POA elections held in January in which Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan was elected for the fourth successive four-year tenure.
Pakistan’s sports cannot afford any more conflict. It’s time to unite and go forward with the hope of rejuvenation.