Pakistan’s sports saw some major developments on various fronts along with some hiccups here and there during the past few days. The biggest news is that 12 athletes in different sports disciplines were awarded Olympic scholarships by the IOC Olympic Solidarity which will help them prepare for and compete in the 2024 Paris Olympics qualifiers.

This is not a new thing. Pakistani athletes used to get such scholarships in the past too but this is the first time that a solid pool of national athletes will benefit from the project. National federations were asked by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) to submit their recommendations. Gender equality has been maintained which is important in the eyes of the IOC. It would have been great if the country’s premier judoka Qaiser Afridi and taekwondo leading fighter Haroon Khan had also got scholarships. These two are such good players that they could not only qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics but also have the capability to win medals.

Pakistan Badminton Federation (PBF) has again helped the country’s top female shuttler Mahoor Shehzad for the scholarship. There is no doubt that she is the best female shuttler but I ask the badminton federation what the country’s leading male player Murad Ali will do. This boy has been ruling Pakistan’s badminton for the last one decade but he is not in the good books of the federation and that is why he is not given any weightage. The PBF president Wajid Ali Chaudhry himself is a former international player but he lacks administrative skills and is unable to run the federation effectively.

Those who have been awarded Olympic Solidarity scholarships are: Arshad Nadeem (javelin thrower), Olympian shuttler Mahoor Shehzad,, swimmer Jehanara Nabi, table tennis player Perniya Zaman Khan, weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt, wrestlers Mohammad Inam and his cousin Mohammad Bilal and shooters Usman Chand, Gulfam Joseph, Anna Ibtisam, Kishmala Talat and Rasam Gull.

The POA said that this programme has been designed for the elite athletes who are training and attempting to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games Paris 2024. The Olympic scholarship will start on January 1, 2022, and will be divided into separate terms running for a four-month period each until August 31, 2024. Each athlete will be awarded 650 US dollars per month.

Meanwhile, the IPC Ministry has resurrected its relations with the POA. Some positive indications have been received from the new IPC Minister Ehsan-Ur-Rehman Mazari. During a meeting with the POA the other day the minister hinted that the IPC ministry and the POA will work jointly to ensure that the 14th South Asian Games are hosted by Pakistan in an excellent manner. Let’s see how the two bodies work together in future.

The relations between the IPC ministry and the POA mostly remained strained when Dr Fehmida Mirza was the minister. She used to take unilateral decisions and now it is expected that the new minister will work jointly with the POA which is a prerequisite if you are to run sports in the most appropriate way.

Any clash between these bodies is always injurious to the country’s sports and in future any confrontation should be avoided.

Pakistan is to host the South Asian Games next year. This is the third time that the country will be hosting the Games. It previously hosted the games in 1989 and 2004 in Islamabad. It would be most appropriate if the Games were conducted in Punjab with competitions in a few disciplines in Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

The other day Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) held a meeting with federations regarding preparations for the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games. A healthy debate was held but there were numerous issues which should be settled before going ahead.

Authorities should ensure that the right coaches accompany the squads. Some officials have been confirmed without the agreement of a few federations. This matter should be sorted out. In case an official goes with a squad without the recommendation of the federation concerned, then how can it own the results of its athletes in an international event? This matter needs to be resolved in order to avoid any confrontation in future.

It is also yet not known how many athletes and officials will be sponsored by the PSB for these two events and the Asian Games which will be held in September in China.

Authorities should set aside politics and focus on taking decisions on merit in every sector in order to promote sports in the country.

Pakistani wrestlers, meanwhile, failed to break the 30-year old medal jinx when they returned empty-handed from the Asian Wrestling Championship held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, a few days ago.

The country’s premier wrestlers Mohammad Inam, Mohammad Bilal and Inayatullah lost their fights at the first hurdles. Inam lost his 86kg fight against Saiakbai Usupov of Kyrgyzstan 5-6.

Bilal faced a first round exit when he was undone by Sunggwon Kim of Korea in the 57 kilogramme qualification round.

Inayatullah also failed to impress in the 65 kilogramme event. Inayat, who belongs to Peshawar, went down to Rahman Mousa Amouzadkhalili of Iran in the first round. As the 2021 junior world champion Rahman reached the final, Inayat was given repechage and there he was beaten by Japan’s Yamaguchi. Pakistan last won a medal in the 1991 Asian Championship.

Pakistan will need to work harder if it is to click at the Asian level as the belt carries world’s top players and claiming a medal at this level is not easy. The best option is to give maximum exposure to the wrestlers so that they could improve their rankings at the global level. They should also get a foreign coach for training keeping in view the demand of modern wrestling. But featuring in the event in Mongolia will definitely help our grapplers to click in the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games which will be held in July and August in Birmingham and Turkey, respectively.

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