Vanishing hope

Earlier this month, one of Pakistan’s premier pugilists, Zohaib Rasheed, disappeared in Italy just before the Qualifying Rounds for this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. An Asian Games bronze medalist who came close to winning an Asian Games medal in Hangzhou (China) last year, Zohaib was Pakistan’s best hope for an Olympic boxing spot and was supposed to feature in the Qualifiers at the Busto Arsizio Arena in the outskirts of Milan. Instead, he reportedly stole money from the bag of a female teammate and just vanished leaving most of his luggage back in the team hotel. Team officials filed a report with the local police, who are now making efforts to trace him. He is not the first Pakistani athlete to have done this, and unfortunately might not be the last either. Over the years, dozens of our sportspersons have ‘slipped’ in Europe, North America and Japan after ditching their respective teams apparently in search of greener pastures. Back in 2022, two of Pakistan’s leading boxers – Suleman Baloch and Nazirullah – disappeared in the UK after featuring in the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. Just before the quadrennial spectacle, Faizan Akbar, Pakistan’s ace swimmer and a four-time national champion, vanished in Budapest where he was supposed to feature in the World Swimming Championship in June 2022.

This is a really alarming trend especially because even elite athletes like Zohaib are opting to end their international careers in order to start a life in the West from scratch. Zohaib must have known he had a future as an international boxer. He belongs to an established boxing family of Karachi’s Lyari locality which has produced several top notch footballers and pugilists. He could have qualified for the Paris Games. He could have become only the second Pakistani boxer to win an Olympic medal after the legendary Hussain Shah, who clinched a historic bronze in Seoul in 1988. But he apparently chose to give up all of that in order to earn a living in Europe.

What Zohaib did cannot be justified – but we do need to take a long hard look at the economic situation of our athletes. Apart from our elite cricketers, who earn handsomely through international matches, professional leagues and endorsements, our sports persons are rarely able to make a decent living. There have been countless stories about the struggles of our athletes, including national hockey players and boxers like Zohaib. It is difficult to stop a person like Zohaib from doing what he did in Milan if all he has back at home is a hand to mouth existence. We have to pay our athletes better. Instead of spending millions on the joyrides of sports officials, the funds should go towards the training and salaries of sports persons. This is happening in neighbouring India and the country has made huge strides in the world of sports in recent years. Unfortunately, in Pakistan, our Zohaibs and Faizans are choosing to jump ship. This has to change. We have to invest in our sports otherwise things will continue to go south of our country.