Daily Times

The Asian Games, also called the Asiad, is a multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from all over Asia. The Games are regulated by the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) under the supervision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The first ever multi sports event in Asia was held in Manila in 1913. At that time the Asian Games called the ‘Far East Asian Games’ wherein six countries of China, Japan, Hong Kong, Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand participated in 08 sports (athletics, baseball, basketball, diving, football, swimming, volleyball and tennis). However due to the first and second World Wars the subsequent edition of the Games was unable to be held. In 1948, during the London 14th Olympic Games, Asian Sports Leaders met in London and decided to host the Asian Games. In 1949 Asian National Olympic Committees General Assembly met in Delhi and created the Asian Games Federation (AGF) responsible to organize the Asian Games. The AGF owned the Asian Games and First Asian Games were held in 1951 in New Delhi, India. The AGF did not have a permanent HQ and travelled to each host country where the Games were being held. As the objectives evolved so did the needs of the AGF who made the decision to amend their Constitution and Rules and form the OCA.

The decision to form the OCA was made in New Delhi during the Asian Games Federation Council meeting on the November 26, 1981. In this meeting the first constitution and rules were adopted and approved and were scheduled to commence after the 9th Asian Game in 1982 in Delhi. The first election for OCA Executive Board (President and Members) was held in New Delhi on November 16, 1982, during the first General Assembly. At this time there were 34 member NOCs, these are referred to as the founder members. At the request of the Kuwait NOC and the Kuwait Government, the OCA General Assembly unanimously decided to have permanent headquarters in Kuwait. The three main constituents of the Olympic Movement in Asia are the OCA, the Asian Sports Federations (AFs) and the National Olympic Committees (NOCs). The headquarters of OCA in Kuwait was invaded and destroyed in 1990 by the Iraqi invasion and the OCA had to rebuild its headquarters in 1991 after Kuwait was liberated.

Pakistan’s performance fading since 1998 Asiad: Pakistan, once considered a force to be reckoned with at the Asian level, is now a mere shadow of its former self. Since 1998, Pakistan’s performance is not up to the mark, in fact it is fading fast with the passage of time. Every four years, Pakistan, with big contingents, participate in the Asia extravaganza with high hopes of improving their medal tally and creating better impact in the continental event but ends on a disappointing note. In the last Asiad in Jakarta in 2018, the Pakistan contingent gave a below-par performance. Forty-five nations took part in the 2018 edition, out of which 35 countries secured their place on the medals table. Pakistan was 33rd on the list with four bronze medals to its name. The kabaddi team, which was expected to clash against India in the final, shockingly lost to South Korea in the semi-final, thus winning a bronze medal. Arshad Nadeem won a bronze medal for Pakistan in the javelin event while Nargis Hameedullah took the bronze in karate. The fourth medal for Pakistan came in squash after they lost their semi-final to Malaysia in straight sets. Pakistan’s hockey team enjoyed a good run in the event but lost to Japan in the semi-final before losing to India in the bronze medal game. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Pakistan had clinched five medals out of which there was one gold, one silver and three bronze.

In seven-decade history of the Asian Games, Pakistan has accumulated 203 medals: 44 gold, 64 silver and 95 bronze. Pakistan’s performance in hockey has been excellent. Since debut of the sport in 1958, Pakistan missed the medal just twice. First it was in 2002 Busan Asian Games when Pakistan finished fourth and later in the 2018 edition in Jakarta where they also finished fourth. Starting with a gold medal in 1958, Pakistan claimed eight gold, three silver and three bronze medals in firld hockey. Boxing is the other sport in which Pakistan had a tight grip in Asia largely because of the efforts of late Professor Anwar Chowdhry who helped Pakistan keep growing in the sport for around four decades. Pakistan grabbed 61 medals in boxing at the Asian Games: six gold, 20 silver and 35 bronze. In the initial few editions, athletics kept bringing the lion’s share of medals for the country. Pakistan Army made an enormous contribution. Most of the medals were fetched by athletes from Army. Overall in athletics, Pakistan has won 40 medals: 14 gold, 13 silver and 13 bronze. Pakistan has been a force in wrestling as the nation claimed 34 medals: six gold, 14 silver and 14 bronze. In yachting/sailing, Pakistan won five gold, three silver and two bronze; in kabaddi two silvers and six bronze; in squash two gold, three silver and three bronze; two gold in women’s cricket and one bronze in men’s cricket. Pakistan also has one silver and two bronze in weightlifting; one gold and five bronze in snooker; and one silver and two bronze in tennis. Pakistan won badminton bronze in men’s team championship in 1978 Bangkok edition. In cycling, Pakistan claimed two silver and one bronze in 1958 and a bronze in equestrian in 1982. Pakistan got bronze medal in volleyball after finishing third in men’s volleyball competitions in 1962 Jakarta Asian Games.

The standard of competition at the Asian Games is also rising fast. The OCA does not have qualifying standards because it wants to encourage smaller nations to compete, leading to some irreverent and quirky results. Pakistan, a country of 212 million, was once among top five sporting nations in Asia but now can’t compete or beat even small nations on the medals table. We used to excel in major sports. Now we are not even amongst the first 20 out of 45 participating countries in the Asian Games. Over the years we have become a funny nation that likes to live in a world of dreams and fantasies. The world of Pakistan sports is no different. We dream of excellence at international level in sports without even realising that the present sport set up in Pakistan just does not have the capacity to deliver. Therefore, those who feel that the present set up can be result oriented are not living in a realistic world.

And there many reasons behind this. Sports activities in schools, colleges and universities have touched an all time low because of diminishing sports fields, poor systems and lack of interest in sports by young generation that have many other options to keep them occupied. But perhaps the worst aspect of this development is that educational administrators no longer feel that sports are an integral part of all educational systems. Some even think it is a waste of time. Modern sports structures all over the world have sports institutes as integral components of their systems. Even Bangladesh has one. It is unfortunate that after 73 years of independence Pakistan government has not been able to establish one. People at the helm of affairs either do not realise the importance of this institution or hesitate simply because they do not know how to go about it. Look at where we are now and yet people who are responsible for this debacle feel no shame over this terrible decline. One honestly feel that we have the potential to produce good results if, and it is a big if, we can evolve a modern scientific system – not too ambitious but one based on our national ground realities, available manpower and above all the capacity to deliver. The entire mindset has to be changed. Sports is now a science and this is the starting point that everybody associated with sports in Pakistan needs to accept. With not giving priority to sports, we should not be dreaming of reaching the skies.