Aristocracy and football dream

In one of my previous columns I wrote that the way things stand in this country it is only the children who now seem to be happy and the rest of us all are disappointed and frustrated. Children are happy because they can’t make sense of what is going around and how precarious the current situation in this country has become which is characterised by the ever-growing political and economic uncertainty. Still, we have to rely and cling on to something to give us hope and live our lives as best as we can in this least enabling and uncertain environment. Every time I pick up the pen to write I end up writing on why we have failed to progress and why our leadership has been so pointless and purposeless. I draw my hope for improvement and recovery largely from the young generation, from the students in the universities where I profess. I do believe that in these hard times we must stick to our goals and, regardless of the external environment, keep giving our best where we work and where it matters.

I still profess that with hard work and determination anyone with skill and imagination may still aspire to reach the highest level and it emboldens my heart when I see this getting translated into meaningful success when those that I indulge with reciprocate with telling nods of approval. When one of the best students in my class engaged with me in a bilateral and informal discussion, I realised that he was not only good in academics he was also a very good player of football. His passion for playing football had taken him to the doorsteps of the dream that any sportsman has — being part of the national football team.

The boy had so much faith in the football talent in the country that he was convinced that given the right planning and execution we could not only move up on the ladder of FIFA ranking but one day have a team that could put up a great fight to even qualify for the world cup. As he was interested in doing his PhD in a subject in political science, I explained to him how getting a doctorate can be a very stressful and frustrating experience “if you are not passionate about the field in which you are doing PhD”. In the follow-up discussion, he got very excited and took little or no time and agreed that if he has to do a doctorate then it should be in the field that interests him most. And in just no time he came up with the most critical step of doing PhD in any given field — his thesis statement and his research question: can Pakistan qualify for the football world cup by 2046? An event closely tied with the 100 years of the celebration of independence of this country.

The young man’s conviction was built around the idea that if Morocco can make it to the top, why can’t Pakistan sniff the possibility of being part of the greatest sporting event in the world? For me, the road leading to the realisation of this dream would not be that simple. In a country where children are hardly provided opportunities to rise as per their natural talents, where there is aristocratic political order, where positions are inherited and not earned — how can inefficiency and corruption end in such an environment and meritocracy be promoted? I still consider that any end goal including the goal of qualifying for a football world cup in about two decades is achievable. But for any goal to be achieved the policy formulated must project a shared concept of future. Unfortunately, in Pakistan the future is very bright for the minority elite class but not for the hard working and talented other class. There is extreme erosion of trust between the current leadership of the country and its public. So, despite the dreams the country lacks the purposeful leadership to induce a public commitment to national enthusiasm and nationhood. Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cameroon and even Iran despite their economic and political issues have fielded good football teams. So, despite our problems why can’t we even in these turbulent times create a dream that has a fetching effect in promoting one other big sport in the country? Is it too much to ask?

Three years ago, Morocco made a major investment of $70 million and created ‘The Mohammad VI Football Complex’ near the country’s capital Rabat. This world class complex covers 30 hectares of land, having a number of football pitches, a five-star hotel, two three-star hotels and many other allied facilities including an auditorium and many other administrative buildings. This is one of the largest ultra-modern complexes in the world. Given this investment there should be little doubt in why the Moroccan football is not only dominating the African continent but also making huge strides in the world of football.

I heard that our foreign minister recently met the FIFA President during his visit to Doha and there were press reports that he apprised him of the football potential of Lyari — a constituency that he represents and leads. Why doesn’t the foreign minister consider setting up such a facility in the province of Sindh and give this opportunity to the great potential that we have in this constituency, and elsewhere in Pakistan, in pursuit of this dream of Pakistan qualifying for the football world cup in two decades’ time?

Pakistan and its people deserve much more than just the unending bouts of political confrontation. Aristocratic model of politics was termed by Greeks as the ‘rule by the best’. It doesn’t seem that this aristocratic model of governance in Pakistan is going to change and switch over to meritocratic model soon. If that is not likely to happen and if the best rule this country, they must realise that ‘to whom much is given much is expected’.

Readers may question from where Pakistan will cough up $70 million. That is to be answered the best by those who are ruling us. My absolute concern is about our young generation, our brilliant minds like my young student who wants to find out the answer to the question — how can Pakistan qualify for the football world cup in two decades’ time? Maybe the aristocracy can find out some time to understand that sports is a great leveler of social and political disruptions. Like in everything else we are blessed with great potential, all we lack is purposeful leadership.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 18^th, 2022.

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