Investing in victory

Things have never been better for female athletes at the international level. A prime example of this positive change is the forthcoming FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023 to be co-hosted by Australia and New Zealand from July 20 to August 20. The much-anticipated tournament will be played on an expanded 32-team format offering a prize basket of 110 million dollars, almost four times higher than the previous edition of the World Cup ($30 million). This change is happening almost everywhere in the world of sports. Unfortunately, these winds of change have so far had little or no impact on women’s sports in Pakistan. Things continue to turn from bad to worse for Pakistani sports persons especially our female athletes.

In the latest case of apathy by our authorities towards sports in general and women’s sports in particular, the Pakistan Sports Board, a body formed by the government for the promotion of sports in the country, refused to provide an NOC to the Pakistan football team which was supposed to play matches in Singapore on July 15 and 18. The PSB told Pakistan’s football authorities that they were late in applying for the NOC. The Board’s unhelpful attitude has put in jeopardy a rare chance for our women footballers to get international experience and exposure. Such opportunities are few and far between and should not be wasted like this. Our sports authorities will need to bring positive change in their attitude otherwise there will be no end to the ongoing downside in Pakistan’s performance graph in international sports. They should also devise ways and means to promote women’s sports. We have countless examples to show how talented our women athletes are. Pakistani women are now making records in extreme sports as well. A couple of weeks back, two mountaineers – Naila Kiani and Samina Baig – became the two Pakistanis to climb one of the world’s highest mountain peaks, the Nanga Parbat. A week later, a 12-year-old girl, Ayesha Ayaz, won three medals in the International Taekwondo Championship. And yet the PSB has not taken any meaningful step to assist women athletes in the country. Such insensitive actions demotivate national players, besides ruining their careers.

Across the world, there has been an impressive shift in how people view women athletes. Today, top female tennis stars get the same prize purse as their male counterparts in Grand Slam events like the US Open, Wimbledon and French Open. Earlier this week US’s Allisen Corpuz earned the largest payout in women’s golf history when she pocketed $2 million after winning the US Open at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links. The tragic death of Shahida Raza – a national football player – is still fresh in our memories. When the PSB continues taking decisions that have a negative impact on players’ professional development, there will be no hope left for betterment.