Jalal seeks civil award for Nadeem Omar

KARACHI: Former Test player Jalaluddin has said that Quetta Gladiators’ owner Nadeem Omar remains one of the most under-appreciated heroes of Pakistan who has supported sports in the country and asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to acknowledge his work.

Jalal urged the government to recognise his services to sports in Pakistan. “Nadeem Omar is an unsung hero whose outstanding services and support to sports in Pakistan have not been recognised by governments in Pakistan,” Jalal said.

“He has been there supporting different sports for years, be it cricket, hockey, snooker or scrabble. People like Nadeem are true heroes. I am disappointed that he hasn’t been given any civil award,” said the former fast bowler.

While Nadeem has been investing heavily in cricket, it was his move of stepping up to help Pakistan hockey team to participate in Champions Trophy 2014 which got him appreciation globally.

Pakistan hockey team was on the brink of pulling out of Champions Trophy because of having no funds which would have brought embarrassment to Pakistan. “If it wasn’t for Nadeem, Pakistan would have become a joke in 2014 because our government wasn’t ready to finance our national game and we would have to pull out of Champions Trophy,” Jalal added.

“Nadeem also came forward to appreciate former IBSF World Champion Mohammad Asif when he won the world title and awarded him a hefty prize of Rs 2,000,000 when other institutions were ignoring him. Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) didn’t give him the cash award according to sporty policy.

“Besides, Nadeem bought franchise of Quetta in PSL when there was so much negativity regarding Balochistan. Since Quetta Gladiators came into existence, the world has got a positive image of Balochistan,” Jalal explained.