Daily Times

The sporting world staggered into 2021 as the Covid-19 pandemic raged and while it would be a stretch to say it finished the year with a sprint, a sense of normality had returned despite the lingering threat of the virus. Pakistan sports had been in a state of disrepair for years but they did show more than a few signs of life and did provide a massive adrenaline rush in 2021 with incredible stories to savour in an intense and often overwhelming year. All things considered, it wasn’t quite annus mirabilis for sports in Pakistan. There were highs and lows, and moments of raw emotion when athletes pushed the limits and revealed their human vulnerabilities. At the same time, Pakistan sports remained in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons in the year 2021.

Japan beat Pakistan in Davis Cup World Group-I tie: Japan defeated Pakistan in the Davis Cup World Group-I tie, outsmarting them 4-0 at the Pakistan Sports Complex in Islamabad in March. Pakistan’s Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan, who had already conceded 2-0 defeat in the singles, seemed off-colour against young Japanese pair of Shintaro Mochizuki and Sho Shimabukuro in the doubles. Aisam and Aqeel though started the tie well and after a tough fight, managed to win the first set 6-4. But this was all that the Pakistan tennis stars could get from the match, as the Japanese pair bounced back strongly and won the second set 6-4 and then played more aggressive tennis in the third set and conceded just two points to win the set 6-2 and also earned an unassailable 3-0 lead. In the reverse singles, Japan’s Yuta Shimizu proved too hot for Pakistan’s Muzammil Murtaza as he comfortably won the encounter with a score of 6-1, 6-1, thus provided his side a decisive 4-0 victory in the tie. The victory meant Japan kept their unblemished record against Pakistan intact, winning all the four encounters of the Davis Cup ties held so far between the two countries. The Pakistan-Japan tie was played without spectators due to Covid-19 restrictions.

FIFA bans Pakistan Football Federation for “hostile takeover”: In April, FIFA, football’s world governing body, suspended the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) due to third-party interference. FIFA said its decision to suspend the PFF was prompted by the “hostile takeover” which constituted a serious violation of its statutes. On 27th March 2021 (Saturday), the Pakistan football headquarters was attacked and taken over by an illegal group led by Syed Ashfaq Hussain Shah, a former president of the PFF. It was another dark chapter in the history of Pakistan football and sports. FIFA-appointed PFF normalisation committee chairman Haroon Malik was forced to hand over the organisation’s accounts and cheque books to the Ashfaq-led group. Haroon was restrained by the Ashfaq-led group as they were furious about not conducting the elections. Haroon told them he would provide a roadmap and they should discuss it in a civilised manner but in vain as the PFF staff was physically harassed and held hostage for quite some time before the Ashfaq-led group gained control of the PFF headquarters. It is interesting to note that Ashfaq was named PFF president after a 2018 election held on the instructions of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation had refused to recognise him as the elected president, ruling the Supreme Court’s move as “third-party interference” in running of the national football body. During that time, Pakistan was also suspended for a six-month period from October 2017 to March 2018 for a court appointed administrator taking over the PFF headquarters from then PFF president Faisal Saleh Hayat. In 2019, FIFA installed the normalisation committee –– initially headed by Humza Khan –– to strengthen the football structure in Pakistan, aiming to achieve a functioning administration by conducting transparent elections. After Humza’s resignation in December 2020, FIFA named Haroon as chairman of the normalisation committee. Tensions have been brewing over the past months between the group led by Ashfaq and the normalisation committee over what they see as a delay in holding elections. In 2015, Pakistan was banned by FIFA due to third-party interference.

Pakistan climber becomes world’s youngest to conquer K2, Everest in same year: Shehroze Kashif achieved the Guinness World Record title for the world’s youngest person to climb the world’s top two tallest mountains in the same year within three months. He was aged 19 years and 138 days when he conquered the mighty mountains. The 19-year-old reached the top of Everest (8,849m) on 11th May 2021 and summited K2 (8,611m) on 27th July 2021. Kashif also holds the record for being the youngest person to have climbed K2. The teenager began his climbing journey at the age of 11 when he summited the 3,885m Makra peak, followed by 4,080m Musa Ka Musalla peak and 4,600m Chembra peak. From there on, he took his passion to the next level by climbing 5,000, 6,000 and then 8,000 metre high peaks. At the age of 17, he climbed 8,047m Broad peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world, which earned him the title ‘The Broad Boy’. At 19, he summited the tallest mountains of them all.

Former hockey Olympian Naveed Alam passes away: In July, former hockey Olympian and member of the winning team of the 1994 World Cup Naveed Alam passed away. Alam had been diagnosed with blood cancer. He underwent chemotherapy at Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore and his health deteriorated after it. He was transferred to the intensive-care unit after his health deteriorated but in vain. Alam had appealed to the federal and provincial government to take note and provide necessary aid for his treatment, which was estimated to cost four million rupees. The 1996 Summer Olympics participant coached the teams of Pakistan, China and Bangladesh.

Sports are littered with examples of sports men and women who have performed well against the odds —- that’s partly what keeps us watching as spectators. Confucius said: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” This quote, in part, explains why sports people can recover from adversity and perform well. Some would argue that failure is a necessary part of the process of success. The important thing here is not the adversity that is faced but how those affected react to the adversity. One can respond by giving in and allowing the adversity to perpetuate, developing a culture of failure, or by demonstrating a dogged determination to rebuild and rise again. Athletes are marked by their heroics, their endeavour and their struggle against the odds. Same goes for sports administrators.

Pakistan represented by only 10 athletes at Tokyo Olympics 2020: Regardless of what the doom-mongers and the thousands of people in Japan bitterly opposed to staging the delayed 2020 Olympics said, the Games went ahead, even if they looked and felt very different to any previous edition. Tokyo was successful in hosting the 2020 Olympic Games which were postponed to July-August 2021 due to coronavirus pandemic. This was the first such delay in the Olympic Games’ 124-year modern history. The postponement marked the first break in the four-year cycle for the Summer Olympics since the 1940 and 1944 Games were cancelled because of World War II. The Pakistan Olympic Association had sent only ten athletes to Tokyo. A nation of 220 million was being represented by just ten sportspersons. The 10 comprised seven men and three women, competing in athletics, badminton, judo, shooting, swimming, and weightlifting. Before that, at the Rio Olympic Games 2016, Pakistan had its smallest-ever contingent: just seven athletes. Since 1948, hockey had been Pakistan’s main hope for an Olympic medal. The hockey squad always formed a major part of Pakistan’s Olympic contingent. It is lamentable that Pakistan hockey, which remained up in the clouds for more than three decades, is not the same force that it used to be, and failed to qualify for two consecutive Olympic Games: Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020. Missing out on back-to-back Olympic Games was nothing less than a catastrophe for the followers. Pakistan hockey, which inspired millions around the globe, last won an Olympic medal in 1992 Barcelona.

Talha and Arshad shine despite not reaching the Olympic podium: Pakistan had serious hopes of an Olympic medal ––– its first since 1992 and first ever in athletics ––– when Arshad Nadeem arrived at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium for the men’s javelin final. Arshad, Pakistan’s first-ever track-and-field athlete to qualify for the Olympic Games, had made history when he reached the final and was aiming to do better than weightlifter Talha Talib who narrowly missed out on bronze earlier in Tokyo. Arshad eventually finished fifth, meaning Pakistan’s wait for an Olympic medal will go on till the Games in Paris in 2024. Arshad and Talha’s performances showed that Pakistan had improved since the 2016 Rio Olympics. Arshad and Talha had raised our hopes purely because of their own talent and struggle, with a little help from their respective national federations or the government.

The history-making para-athlete Haider Ali: Haider Ali created history in Tokyo on 3rd September 2021 when he became the first-ever Pakistan’s para-athlete to win gold medal at the Tokyo Paralympics 2020. The gold at Tokyo was his third medal in the Paralympics, and the country’s first-ever Paralympics gold. Haider was competing in the men’s F 37 discus throw competition. His throw of 55.26m in his 5th attempt, which was also his personal best, earned him the honour. Haider had earlier threw 47.84 in his third attempt. Ukrainian Mykola Zhabnyak won silver with a throw of 52.43 while Brazil’s Jaoa Victor earned bronze. Winning the discus throw event, and by some margin, spoke volumes about how Haider had kept himself in top form despite limited resources. No doubt, a story of grit and determination, of an unflinching quest for gold ultimately fulfilled. Paralympics are the Olympic Games for para-athletes, a term applied to disabled athletes. Competitors are divided into three broad categories, namely deaf athletes, athletes with physical disabilities and athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Pakistan government gets IOC warning of possible suspension: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a warning to the Pakistan government for interference in its National Olympic Committee (NOC) amid a dispute stemming from the country’s appearance at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. The IOC sent the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) a letter calling for a solution to be reached in response to the row. It was triggered by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), the government’s regulatory body for sports in the country, demanding the resignation of longstanding POA president Lt Gen (r) Syed Arif Hasan. The PSB alleged the POA failed to control Pakistan’s athletes when they were in Tokyo for the Games and claimed the organisation did not properly ensure its delegation adhered to the strict Covid-19 rules in place at the event. It also claimed there were accredited POA officials who were on “joyrides” at Tokyo 2020 and were not the correct people for the roles they had been assigned. “All of this showed the failure of the Pakistan Olympic Association,” the PSB said. The POA, which had frequently clashed with the Pakistan government in recent years, dismissed the accusations. The POA then convened its General Council meeting on September 16 which fully backed Arif Hasan as the NOC chief and authorised him to hold constructive talks with the state authorities, particularly the Prime Minister.

The IOC showed great concerns and advised an appropriate solution with the view to ensuring full respect of the fundamental principle of autonomy of the Olympic Movement in Pakistan while developing harmonious relations and constructive partnerships between the state authorities, NOC and national federations in the interest of sports and the athletes. The IOC also pointed out that the PSB’s initiative to establish “state-controlled electoral commissions to adjudicate disputes relating to national sports federations and to appoint ad-hoc committees within the national federations is not in line with the principle of responsible autonomy of the Olympic Movement.” The IOC completely backed the POA and the resolution of its General Council to reject interference from the state entities with the internal governance of the national sports federations. It was not the first time the POA had been in the IOC’s crosshairs over the government interference. In 2013, two rival factions claimed to be the legitimate body in charge of the POA, resulted in the IOC holding talks with the Pakistan government.

Pakistan score 11th position at Junior Hockey World Cup: At the Hockey Junior World Cup, held in Bhubaneswar, India in November, Pakistan failed to qualify for the semifinals, finishing third in their group, having won just one match and losing two. Pakistan played their first league match against Germany and lost 2-5. In their second match against Egypt, they beat them 3-1. In their last league match against Argentina, they lost again 3-4, and were forced to play the classification matches. In the first match of the classification round, Pakistan set a world record when they defeated the United States 18-2 to secure a major victory. But in the play-offs, Pakistan dropped out of the top ten position for the first time in the history of the event by losing to South Africa on the penalty shoot-out by 4-1. Pakistan finished on 11th spot beating Poland 5-0 in eleventh place match. Argentina defeated Germany to clinch the Junior Hockey World Cup title.

Below par performance at Asian Squash Championship: In November-December, Pakistan, who had ruled the squash world for around four decades, failed to win a medal at the 21st Asian Men’s Team Squash Championship-2021 held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The new low came when Pakistan were beaten 1-2 at the hands of squash minnows Japan in the group match of the championship. The result meant Pakistan were out of the race to win a medal in the tournament for the first time since its inception. This was the first time that Pakistan returned home without a medal from the Asian Team Squash Championship. In the previous 19 editions of the tournament, Pakistan had won 15 gold, 03 silver and 01 bronze medals. But this time, Pakistan could manage to beat only weaker sides like Iraq, Philippines and Indonesia. Malaysia grabbed a sensational double at the Asian Team Championships. They won both men and women’s titles after beating top seeds India and Hong Kong respectively. In the individual event of the Asian Championship, Pakistan’s only title hope Nasir Iqbal crashed out after he was beaten by Hong Kong’s Yip Tsz Fung in the semifinals at Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad on 19th December. Yip downed Nasir 11-6, 11-4, 3-1 in a one-sided 29-minute battle.

Pakistan boxer Waseem tops world

flyweight ranking: In December, Pakistan boxer Muhammad Waseem, also called ‘Falcon’ for his swift boxing style, topped the World Boxing Association’s (WBA) flyweight division list for the first time in four years. Waseem’s ranking improved after he beat Colombia’s Robert Barrera in Dubai in November and won the WBA flyweight title eliminator fight. He also won the World Boxing Council (WBC) silver flyweight title in the process for a second time. Waseem had trained in tough conditions in Scotland and Dubai to prepare for the fight against Barrera. His last professional fight was against Jeny Boy Boca from the Philippines in 2020. Before the showdown, he was ranked fourth in the flyweight division category and have now moved to the top spot.

Pakistan fail to qualify for final at Asian Champions Trophy for first time: Pakistan played a couple of good matches in the Asian Champions Trophy Hockey Tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh in December but failed to qualify for the final for the very first time. They were defeated by South Korea in the semifinal and later they lost the bronze medal match to archrivals India. Pakistan finished fourth in the five-team tournament. South Korea won the coveted trophy after beating Japan 4-2 in the final.

Not much hope in 2022: Sports are littered with examples of sports men and women who have performed well against the odds —- that’s partly what keeps us watching as spectators. Confucius said: “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” This quote, in part, explains why sports people can recover from adversity and perform well. Some would argue that failure is a necessary part of the process of success. The important thing here is not the adversity that is faced but how those affected react to the adversity. One can respond by giving in and allowing the adversity to perpetuate, developing a culture of failure, or by demonstrating a dogged determination to rebuild and rise again. Athletes are marked by their heroics, their endeavour and their struggle against the odds. Same goes for sports administrators.

But these are times when one fails to figure out what is keeping Pakistan sports alive. In other countries, people running the sports affairs contribute by taking professional decisions and by executing them with competence rather than on the basis of personal preference and bias. But, frankly, we are not such a nation. In Pakistan most things defy logic. Over the years we have all come to accept the reality of our warped existence and begun to believe that if something has to go wrong, there are over 100 percent chances that it will happen here. Apply that yardstick and most things fall into some kind of understandable pattern. It is very unfortunate that Pakistan sports, over the years, have become politicised and nepotistic. In the national sphere and the sporting arena the root of our dilemma is the notorious system of patronage and imposed cronies, to the exclusion of merit and professionalism. Under the powerful patron’s benevolent gaze, the pick and choose appointees can survive scandals and failures that would crush an ordinary mortal.

Lack of availability of proper facilities and infrastructure, inadequate role of sports federations and lack of support from the government has badly affected Pakistan’s graph in sports. Perhaps the biggest reason for the extraordinary decline in sports in Pakistan is lack of funding and vision. Pakistan’s sports budget is the lowest in South Asia, less than that of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and even Afghanistan. Governments all over the world keep sports and education as their top priority, build infrastructure, hold talent development programmes for players and promote medical sciences in sports to compete the world of sports. But in Pakistan it is totally opposite because sports are not our priority.

What more depressing is that 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 decent educational systems. Some even think it is a waste of time. This is one of the main reasons why student representation in our national sports teams is becoming negligible compared to the past when most of our national teams thrived on student and university representations.

We need to build the grassroots and encourage more kids to play sports. Unfortunately, schools, where most players came from, are now only interested in money and grades. There is no doubt that country’s sports, once having so much pride and passion, have gone to the dogs. Building star athletes is not an overnight process and it takes years keeping in view the modern approach to competitive international standards, and the exacting scientific preparations that countries now favour. The standard of the competition is changing so rapidly that the gap between the best and the second in line has narrowed considerably. In fact, the difference between the top teams and top athletes has become so small that whenever they clash it is very difficult to predict the outcome.

To rise above again, Pakistan sports strong financial backup, commitment and self-belief. Only hard and incessant efforts lead to success. Only then the elusive triumphs will replace the current tragedies that demean the national athletes and team once basking in Olympic golds and world crowns. In the absence of these, we should not dream of reaching for the skies!

(The writer is Sports Editor at Daily Times. He can be reached at mali319@hotmail.com)