The mistreatment of athletes

Nobody is expecting miracles, but success breeds success. For any sport to become popular, it needs a hero, an icon who is idolised by the people and who inspires the coming generation to take up the sport. The icon needs different treatment from the authorities and the government. Pakistan had been struggling in athletics for the last few decades. Last year in the Asian Games in Indonesia javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem pulled off a bronze medal which instilled a new life into the sport in which the country once had a strong say in Asia. The feat made him a hero or at least a hero in the making.

The former IAAF under-20 World No3 has the guts to go a long way in athletics. But since he won the bronze in Asiad, Arshad has remained confined to his home in Mian Channu as there has been no national camp for months because of the nonsupportive attitude of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) which is passing through restructuring. The rusty Arshad a few days ago flew to Doha with four other athletes to feature in the 23rd Asian Athletics Championships where he faltered, finishing sixth among 12 javelin throwers in the final by recording a throw of 78.55m, short of his Asian Games feat of 80.75m. OlympianMehboob Ali also failed to spring any surprise in 400m and 400m hurdles.

And so was the case with high jumper Sheroz, and sprinters Uzair Rehman and Sahib-e- Asra who also did not live up to the expectations. Army’s Mehboob is now in the twilight of his career. The other three are young and can improve. But Arshad can do wonders. I don’t understand why we are wasting him. He needed proper attention from authorities, but that didn’t happen and his performance went down in Doha. Had they paid attention to his preparation ahead of Doha event he could easily have finished at the victory podium. Chinese Taipei’s Cheng Chao-Tsun (86.72m) won gold, India’s Shivpal Singh (86.23) took silver and Ryohei Arai of Japan clinched bronze with a throw of 81.93m. Arshad had been sent to Mauritius in the past for a sixmonth training but he flew back after only two weeks due to home sickness.

The AFP should send him abroad along with a coach, if home sickness issue is kept under consideration, ahead of theWorld Championships to be held in Doha in September. Arshad is still young and can become an icon in the sport if he is properly developed. We should not waste this great talent which we have got after so many years. But state input would be needed. The Doha tour was mainly backed by the Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP). There was no input from the government which has not given a single penny to sports federations for months. In themodern world it’s not easy to develop an athlete. It needs millions. Success will come only if federations and government put their efforts together. Pakistan’s sports, particularly athletics, need state-ofthe- art infrastructure at high altitude.

The altitude training is encouraged for building up endurance, speed and strength of the athletes. Meanwhile, Pakistan’s brief journey in the Asian Boxing Championships in Bangkok also ended a few days ago with Amir Masood of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa bowing out in the second round. He had got bye in the first round of the preliminaries. Amir lost to Uzbekistan’s Abdurasulov Shunkar 0-5 in the light welterweight competitions with the round scores being 30-24, 30-25, 30-26, 30-25 and 30-24 in favour of the Uzbek. Pakistan fielded only one boxer in the event due to financial issues. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Boxing Association supported Amir’s trip to Bangkok. Amir was the silver medallist of the last National Championship but he was preferred over goldmedallist Suleman Baloch of Army for Bangkok trip due to fitness issues of the latter, it has been learnt.

However, Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) President KhalidMehmood toldme a few days ago that the game would be properly streamlined this year with sponsorship deals which the federation is trying to arrange. He was quick to add that government contribution would be required for reviving the lost glory of the country in the game. Since former Asian Games bronze medallist Mohammad Waseem switched over to professional boxing in early 2015, Pakistan has been in search of a star in the sport as the nation has been unable to win any medal outside South Asia since then. Pakistan also faced a huge blow in wrestling when twotime Commonwealth Games and two-time World Beach Championships gold medallist Mohammad Inam missed the Asian Wrestling Championships which started in Xian, China, on Tuesday due to financial issues. It is a huge injustice with a prolific wrestler who is passing through the golden period of his wrestling career.

Inam told ‘The News on Sunday’ that he was not going to China as the government did not have funds to support his tour. Such issues are damaging Inam’s career who has developed new tricks to unsettle his opponents. It’s time the government and corporate sector backed the wrestling hero who is expected to qualify for the World Beach Games slated to be held in San Diego, United States, from October 9-15. After missing out the first qualifying event for the World Beach Games in Portugal, Inamwill feature in the second qualifying round to be held from May 7 in Brazil. Due to the lack of support from the government, I don’t think anyone would qualify for the world’s most prestigious event to be hosted by Japan next year. Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) managed, despite all odds, to field Olympian Shah Hussain and Amina Toyoda in the Asia-Pacific Judo Championships in Fujairah a few days ago.

Tokyo-based Amina exited in the first round in the -57 kg slots, beaten by a Jordanian, but Shah showed great resolve before eventually finishing fifth after losing bronze medal fight against an Uzbek. Shah won three bouts out of five he played in the -100kg. Shah has shown improvement and it is now up to the authorities how they handle him in the Olympic qualifying journey. Weightlifter Talha Talib finished eighth in the 67kg competitions of the Asian Weightlifting Championship which is currently in progress in China. He totalled 304kg, which included 140kg in snatch and 164kg in clean and jerk. Although Talha has tweeted that he has recorded his personal best in both total and clean and jerk, Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) did not officially issue these stats. Nooh Dastgir Butt will compete in the super heavyweight on Sunday (today). PWF also faced great difficulties in sending the duo to China for the continental event. Both weightlifters trained on their own because of lack of any state-run camp. Currently the PSB is totally inactive. The government should expedite the efforts to table the constitution of the new Board, called PSEDIB, before the cabinet for approval as soon as possible so that the country’s sports could be brought to normalcy.

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