Elderly athletes: CDA ringers old enough to be opponents’ parents

The civic agency has dedicated teams, but most feature players well past their prime.

ISLAMABAD:

The state of affairs at the sports wing of the capital’s civic agency truly portrays the overall organisational culture at the Capital Development Authority (CDA).

Incomplete teams, overage players, limited sporting activities, and above all, an indifferent approach towards these issues from those responsible are witnesses to the fact that sports and their promotion are near the bottom of the CDA’s priority list.

Documents available with The Express Tribune show that the sports wing manages five teams in different sports — cricket, football, hockey, shooting ball (a form of volleyball), and golf.

Collectively, the five teams have 47 players, three managers and two coaches, all of whom are permanent employees of the CDA and part of dedicated teams.

It is common practice in other government departments that employees who want to play a sport get themselves registered with the relevant team, but the situation is different at the CDA, where dedicated teams have ‘ringers’ — players hired only to play sports.

Interestingly, out of the 47 players, some 20 are older than 35 years of age. Instead of attaching the overage players with other non-technical departments of the CDA and hiring new blood for the teams, the authority continues keeping such players on the teams.

Meanwhile, although hockey is the national sport of Pakistan, the CDA has either the most talented or most apathetic hockey outfit around. That is because the CDA hockey team has a grand total of one player, Najeebullah, 25, for 11 field positions. Facilitating the ‘team’ is manager Ghulfran Shah.

“The CDA hockey team played its last match in 2012, and to complete the team then, 10 players from different private clubs in Rawalpindi and Islamabad were hired and paid on per match basis,” informed an insider.

Then there is the shooting ball team. A shooting ball team consists of six players, while the CDA only has five, with the sixth spot filled by the manager when required.

This team last competed in 2013 at an event in Chakwal, where it was ousted in the opening game of the tournament.

The ‘baby’ of the team is 35-year-old Muhammad Azam, while the oldest player is Hafiz Muhammad Rafiq, 51. Rafiq is just four years younger than the manager, who also plays competitive matches due to the player shortage.

The football team is also short of players, with just 10 men and a coach.

“Only three of the ten players are fit enough to play. The remaining players are hired on daily wage basis whenever the team is scheduled to participate in some event,” said a senior sports wing official.

Even the best footballers begin losing their competitive edge when they hit the wrong side of 30. Out of the seven players deemed unfit to play — while still getting paid — five are over 35 years of age.

Only the cricket team, which has 24 players, a manager and a coach, has satisfactory registration and performance. Most of the players are young and passionate, and the team is currently taking part in the Patrons Trophy at grade-II level.

CDA Sports and Culture Director General Asif Javed Shahjahan acknowledged that “some players” were overage and unfit, which is why private clubs players were hired to participate in a few events.

Shahjahan, who is known for his love of sports, listed a number of reasons including a shortage of funds as being behind the current situation.

“There is a complete ban on new recruitment or hiring players on contract basis,” Shahjahan said, adding that he recently initiated a player hunt to find out young, physically fit employees within the CDA who want to play sports.

“With help from the CDA Administration member, I am trying to improve the situation with existing resources,” Shahjahan said.

He said the Sports Wing was going to launch a series of sports events starting from March 23, with football, cricket, cycling and other sports to be featured.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 20^th, 2014.