Karate medal winners share prize money with coach

KARACHI: It is the responsibility of the state to honour coaches for enabling their players to lift medals in international circuit. But in a rare development in Pakistan’s sports history players honoured their coach by handing him six percent from their cash awards they received from the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for claiming medals in the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal last December.

A sum of Rs750,000, collected by the medal-winning karatekas, was given to coach Shah Mohammad, while Rs100,000 was handed over to him by the Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF).

Pakistan karatekas claimed six gold, eight silver and five bronze medals in the biennial spectacle in Kathmandu which was the best performance from any discipline in which Pakistan featured.

PKF chairman Muhammad Jahangir appreciated the goodwill gesture of the karate players and the services of their coach. “No doubt Shah worked very hard,” Jehangir told ‘The News’.

“The boys themselves decided to honour their coach who worked very hard with them. It’s a great gesture,” Jehangir said.

However, he stressed that it would be better if the government also honoured coaches.

The PSB totally ignored coaches while handing cash awards to the medal winners. Some coaches did express their disappointment, saying if such a step-motherly treatment with them continued they would not deliver their services in future.

Experts had also demanded that the PSB include coaches in the awards policy as it is because of their efforts that athletes are able to win medals in international circuit.