Hussain Shah urges PM to help son compete in Olympics

KARACHI: The 1988 Seoul Olympics bronze medallist boxer Hussain Shah has urged the Prime Minister Imran Khan to help his son Shah Hussain in his Tokyo Olympics journey.

“You see, Shah Hussain has already qualified for the Tokyo Olympics in judo and needs to maintain his seat. But the issue is that he has missed a couple of qualifying events this year due to financial issues,” Hussain Shah told ‘The News’ from Japan on Wednesday.

“Look, if he continues missing Olympic qualifying events he may find himself in deep trouble. Shah has currently achieved the Olympic seat on the basis of continental quota but how can he keep it if he misses events? I urge the PM to help my son in his Olympics journey,” Hussain said.

“Shah has the experience of playing in the Olympics and this time in Tokyo he has the chance to win a medal but he needs help from the state,” said Hussain, the only Pakistani boxer to have won an Olympic medal — he won bronze in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

His son Shah Hussain became the first judoka of the nation to compete in Olympics when he appeared in 2016 Rio Games.

Shah currently stands at the 48th spot in Tokyo Olympics rankings, having lost a few places because he missed Grand Slams in Tel Aviv and Tashkent.

Although the Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) vows to field him in maximum events, the lack of state patronage may create problems for the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist.

“Prime Minister Imran Khan knows me. I have met him several times and I urge him either to help athletes who are aiming to do something promising in the Olympics or shut the sports. If you cannot protect the rights of the sportsmen then there is no need to run the sports,” Hussain said.

He said that Shah Hussain also should be sent abroad for training so that he could make solid preparations for the Olympics.