KARACHI: After a string of impressive performances at the international level, Pakistan junior squash team member Danish Atlas has asked the country’s squash federation to provide permanent jobs to the players.
Danish, speaking at a ceremony held to award cash prizes to the team after it won a silver medal at the Men’s World Junior (individual and team) Squash Championship, said that employment was a necessary incentive for the players.
“Permanent employment is very necessary for a sportsman because he performs much better if he knows that his future is secure,” Danish told The Express Tribune. “We want to give our best to Pakistan but we haven’t been able to play in important Professional Squash Association tournaments. Hence we’ve requested the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF) to help us get entries in these events so that we can improve our ranking and be eligible for those.”
Danish received Rs100,000 for his individual effort while teammates Nasir Iqbal, Hamza Bukhari, Ali Bukhari and Tayyab Aslam – and coach Jamshed Gul received Rs300,000 each.
Meanwhile, Danish added that the new PSF President Tahir Rafique Butt listened to the players’ requests and he remained hopeful that the situation would improve. The 18-year-old said that the federation should set a target of one year for every player to reach a certain level, providing all the facilities they need.
“There should be a target and facilitation. If any player fails then there should be accountability, in this way everybody would give their best.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 31st, 2012.
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@Rehan That would hold good for any other country but for Pakistan. In a country where no PSA tournaments are being held(due to security reasons) and PSF doesn't have enough money associated with its tournaments for players to earn a living, squash no longer remains a viable/sustainable option for any player. In such a scenario they would rather opt for another profession, like programming for example where they would stand a better chance of getting employed and putting food on the table.
So the choice is upto the authorities if they want talented players to continue strifing in squash or start looking for greener pastures.
I am sorry, but I completely disagree with Daanish. He is a Professional squash player, which means that he choose squash to be his way of living. I am a professional programmer, you will not see me ask the government to provide me with a job as a squash professional while I do my programming. Squash is their profession and it should be their means to make money. And even if they are given a job with some organisation/Government department how will they perform that job while constantly being away from the country to play tournaments. And if they do work then when will they train. As for the comment by joy, Gagan Narang is participating as an Amateur he does not earn from his sport. Also, since you mentioned government providing jobs, show me a top 20 squash player in this months ranking who was awarded a job by his government. Access to good coaches, training facilities, management of travel and staying abroad should be the full extent that budding squash players should get. And once they have hit 22 this support should end. So every player would know that they have to get good enough by that time so that they can support themselves from their winnings and be good enough to attract corporate sponsorship.
All Indian sportspersons participating in the London Oympics have been promised jobs by the govt irrespective of whether they win medals or not..... Gagan Narang , who won a bronze medal in shooting gets two KGs of Gold besides other cash rewards running into crores of rupees...