Sportsmen left wondering by former government

Few rewarded, several still waiting for their share of payments.

KARACHI: While a new democratic government will come into power soon, many sports athletes are still waiting for rewards promised by the previous one.

Election fever gripped the country yesterday as millions headed to polling stations hoping for change, but some sportsmen lamented the past which promised much, but bore little fruit.

Some were rewarded by the former federal and provincial governments for their stellar performances, but there are several others who have not received what they were promised.

Snooker cueist Mohammad Asif, who became only the second Pakistani to be crowned the IBSF world champion last year, was not rewarded for his performance, despite former Sindh chief minister Qaim Ali Shah, Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa sports minister announcing Rs1 million reward each.

Former Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) minister Mir Hazar Khan Bijrani was also supposed to award Asif Rs10 million as per the policy of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).

A Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association (PBSA) official close to Asif said the player has been let down and feels the purpose of the announcements was to earn political points.

“It’s sad that these officials announce cash awards but never give them,” the PBSA official told The Express Tribune. “We’ll do whatever we can to get his due reward from the sports ministry or the PSB. But Asif won’t be able to get awards announced by the former ministers. This isn’t a good example set by our politicians who make bogus promises. This discourages the sportsmen and needs to be noticed.”

In a similar case, former prime minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had also announced cash rewards to athletes during his tenure. But players waited for more than a year and not all of them received the reward at the end.

Those who got their rewards include squash players Farhan Mehboob and Aamir Atlas Khan.

In addition, Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) secretary Mohammad Asghar confirmed that wrestlers Azhar Hussain and Mohammad Inam received their rewards for winning the gold medal at the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

But pugilist Mohammas Waseem, who won a bronze medal at the games, has still not received half of his reward of Rs2 million.

“I’ve only received Rs1 million so far and I don’t know if I will ever get the remaining amount,” said Waseem. “It’s really upsetting that an athlete works so hard and brings laurels for the country but he never gets encouraged.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 12^th, 2013.