Corruption has drowned the sporting industry and destroyed many talented players
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan‘s total population is around 216 million, but we are still unable to produce even one world-class athlete that can succeed in the Olympics. In the past, Pakistan has had high international rankings in hockey, volleyball, squash, cricket, karate and many other games. There was a time when Pakistan’s cricket team was among the top two in the world. Player’s like Jahangir Khan, Jansher Khan, Imran Khan, Javed Miandad, Hasan Sardar and many other legends have dominated with their performances. Now the nation’s performance in the field of squash, hockey, cricket, boxing and other games are declining and this downfall in the performances is detracting the public away from the sports. There are many other factors that have contributed to the decline of sports in Pakistan. The first is corruption which has drowned the sporting industry and destroyed many talented players. The second is politics: whenever politics enter sports, it destroys it. Third is lack of infrastructure: In Pakistan, players do not get the adequate platform through which they can groom themselves and avail facilities to better prepare for international standards. The fifth is funding: due to a lack of funds, many talented players and teams cannot afford to participate in international tournaments. The media is also lacking in promoting sports in the country. Having all these issues we can still resuscitate sports in Pakistan by reducing these issues and promoting the importance of sports at the national level. Events like PSL help to revive the culture of sports in Pakistan. It is sad to see that the sporting atmosphere has been destroyed.
Hadia Aziz
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2019.
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