Resolving crises in sports

Usually the term sport is followed by the singular form of the word crisis, but in the current scenario within Pakistan, the use of the plural form had become imperative. Asian Games, Olympics, Commonwealth Games, South Asian Games are some of the most important events which offer proof of this argument.

Decline in performances resulting due to a plethora of problems faced by athletes and federations has led to the demise of the sporting culture in Pakistan, which has eventually caused the dearth of interest shown by our ever-promising youth in it.

Except cricket, no sport in Pakistan is considered to be a career-making or career-building option, because of the numerous reasons which are thrown into our faces every day in newspapers, on TV channels and everywhere else where someone is reading, listening or watching news. But no solution ever came; everyone was identifying the problems and that was the actual problem.

The process of rectification doesn’t just end with the recognition of a problem; a viable, realistic and measurable solution is also needed. Prime Minister Imran Khan, keeping this view in mind, has ordered the formulation of a ‘task force’ which will review the performance of all the sporting federations and bodies which regulate sports in Pakistan.

Newly-elected Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Ehsan Mani has been given the task to ascertain the flaws in the systems, and propose revamping strategies.

The road to redemption is long; systems which are currently in place have been working like they are, without any productivity, for a long period now. It would not be easy to extract maximum efficiency out of them so soon, but drastic measures are the need of the hour.

What this task force finds out and then achieves is still to be seen, but at least the first step towards rectification of the flaws has been taken.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2018.

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