Disappointing year for Pakistan sports
By Ali Kabir
A sharp decline in the field of sports has set in and the rot is all round. There is drastic fall, both in the performance of individuals as well as teams and sports institutions management , further compounded by the irresponsible behaviour of our sportsmen and sports officials.
The worst sufferer being the country’s national game. The performance of the hockey team has brought humiliation to the country. For the first time in the country’s history, Pakistan failed to win any medal at the Asian Games. Though the PHF is headed by Gen Aziz, Chief of the Joint Staff, unfortunately he has failed to take notice of the poor performance of the hockey team.
In cricket, Pakistan rated one of the top teams has failed to perform according to its potential due mainly to mind-boggling decisions of the Pakistan Cricket Board headed by another serving general.
With the World Cup early next year, the team’s performance is nothing to write home about. With around six weeks left for the World Cup nobody knows who are the regular openers. The team has been totally shaken. No player is sure of his future or place in the team. Unless the players have confidence in themselves they cannot perform according to their potential.
Pakistan is the only team among the World Cup contenders whose captain has his head all the time on the chopping block. This is not the way to build any world-beating combination. World-beating combinations are built over a period of time not on personal whims and likes and dislikes of an individual.
The cricketers instead of improving the image of the country have also brought bad name to the country. Only recently, the controversial speedster Shoaib Akhtar was caught red-handed tampering with the ball. It was a most shameful act. It was, however, taken very lightly because Shoaib is the blue eyed boy of the PCB.
To hell with such sportsmen who bring disrepute to the country. Now people in Zimbabwe can brand every Pakistani a cheat. Do we really deserve such accusations just because some irresponsible individual acted in a most irresponsible manner.
A retired brigadier, presently manager of the team touring South Africa had the cheek to say that the chapter stands closed. If it would have been any civilian he would have been definitely recalled and perhaps would have been banned from holding any responsible post in any sports set up. This is no way to deal with sportsmen.
Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) headed by Mian Mohammad Azhar must be held responsible for the shame it has brought on the country after Asian Football Confederation (AFC) banned our Under-17 team from participation in the Asian Championship and imposed a fine of US$10,000,
Football is the only sports in Pakistan which does not need any financial aid from any quarter. If the game is organised on proper lines it can generate enough funds to finance other sports. But unfortunately with men like Mian Azhar at the helm, the sport has suffered immensely.
The PFF secretary, Agha Liaquat Ali, however, tried to shift the blame on the coach or the manager. He tried to befool the nation by his irresponsible remarks.
The coach and the manager cannot be held totally responsible for the misdeeds of the PFF chief and secretary as they are responsible for the destruction of football in Pakistan and tarnishing the image of the country by their negligence or inefficiency. They have made a mess of things and should be held responsible.
So one can say that it does not matter who heads an organisation, whether he is a politician, or a bureaucrat or a man in uniform, all have failed to serve sports in its proper perspective and as a result the standard of sports has declined and as the things are one cannot foresee or forecast a better future.
Things are gloomy as no one cares for national prestige, unless the new Prime Minister, Mir Zafarullah Jamali, who has a sound sporting background finds time to take some positive steps to stem the rot.
