Complaints regarding facilities and accommodation were heard from the very first day but allegations of cheating also surfaced as the event drew to its end yesterday.
The Karachi Cycling Association (KCA) and Hyderabad Sepaktakraw Association (HSA) said that the hosts Mirpurkhas were using the same players in different sports, calling the move as unfair as they registered their protest with the organisers.
Despite winning the gold medals in the cycling events, the KCA Secretary Nasir baloch said that the Mirpurkhas Cycling Association included players from Karachi instead of promoting its local talent.
“It’s really bizarre because my players were competing against their fellow cyclists from Karachi,” Baloch told The Express tribune. “The players who we dropped ended up participating for Mirpurkhas.
“We registered our protest because it’s unfair and a very disturbing practice. The point of holding the Games was to promote local talent, and they breached the spirit of the game.”
The HSA coach complained that Mirpurkhas never formed a proper sepaktakraw team and used its netball and football players. “We got the bronze in the sepaktakraw event because Mirpurkhas cheated,” said coach Javed Ali Soomro.
“What’s the point of a gold medal without fairplay.”
However, the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA) officials said that using players from another city was a common practice in Pakistan. “There is nothing wrong with what Mirpurkhas has done. In sepaktakraw’s case, it’s a new sport and you can’t expect a small association to prepare a team in such a short time period,” said SOA Secretary Ahmed Ali Rajput.
Comparing Mirpurkhas with Sukkur as hosts
While players continuously complained about facilities, some even went to the extent of calling the recently-concluded edition as the worst in history. “I’ve participated in three Sindh Games and this was the worst experience,” said taekwondo silver medallist Fasihuddin. “Associations in Mirpurkhas are extremely lazy and disorganised.”
Published in The Express Tribune, April 2nd, 2012.
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