KARACHI: The “Ghafoor family” is the biggest weight-lifting family of Pakistan. It has been rendering meritorious services for the country.
Over a dozen individuals of this Lahore-based family have played weightlifting at national and international level for the country.
Abdul Ghafoor, the head of the family, is the 1970 Edinburg Commonwealth Games silver medallist, who got the honour in the 52 kilogramme competitions. Most importantly, he had no coach accompanying him on the trip.
The weightlifter, now 72, played for Pakistan from 1962 to 1982. He has seven sons, six of whom are associated with weightlifting: Ishtiaq Ghafoor, Abdullah Ghafoor, Fayyaz Ghafoor, Abdul Ghaffar, Ilyas Ghafoor and Ishfaq Ghafoor. Ishtiaq Ghafoor was a national record holder and South Asian Games silver medallist.
Abdullah is the Asian Junior silver medallist and the 2016 South Asian Games bronze medallist.
Fayyaz won silver in the 2016 National Championship.
Ghaffar has to his credit a silver medal in the 2004 Quetta National Games.
Ilyas is the national silver medallist and an international player.
Ishfaq played weightlifting but now he has quit.
Abdul Ghafoor’s daughter Saniha Ghafoor also plays weightlifting for Pakistan and got fourth place in the 2016 South Asian Games held in India. She set nine national records in this year’s 3rd National Women Championship in Lahore.
AG’s younger brother Mohammad Manzoor got third position in Group B in the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the best ever performance from any Pakistani weightlifter in the Olympic history so far.
His brothers Abdul Shakoor and Mohammad Farooq were national gold medalists and international players.
Saima Shehzad, AG’s niece and daughter of Olympian Mohammad Manzoor, is also a weightlifter. Zara Ghafoor, daughter of AG’s sister, won silver in this year’s 3rd National Championship.
Despite such a major contribution to the sport of weightlifting, Abdul Ghafoor and his family still lead a difficult life. “I am proud that I have sacrificed my whole life for Pakistan. But I sometimes feel that no one has rewarded me for what I have contributed,” AG told ‘The News’ in an interview on Sunday.
“I still live in a rented house in Lahore. My four sons, who have separated from me after getting married, also live in rented houses,” AG, who served in Railways, narrated.
“I could also win medal in Olympics but I was not given a chance by some people. One of the most powerful man in the then sports set-up was against me,” AG lamented.
He said that he had also been a coach and international referee. “I deserve the ‘Pride of Performance’ award but I have no hope that I will get that,” he said.
He owns a club but for the last decade he has no space to run that. “I was running a club, Ghafoor Weightlifting Club, at the Musarrat High School Lahore but an MPA of PML-N on the behest of his nephew asked me to stop it. And for the last ten years no one is giving me a space for re-launching my club which I ran for 30 years. I have several times requested Sports Board Punjab (SBP) for space for my club but to no avail,” Abdul Ghafoor said.
“I would not be able to give you exact data but around 15 of my pupils have won medals for Pakistan in international circuit. I have the eye to pinpoint the weakness of a weightlifter and have the capability to address that. I am a natural coach and have played a key role in building careers of several talented weightlifters who have served Pakistan,” he added.
