Pakistan's cricket obsession unhealthy for other sports: POA chief

Pakistan's cricket obsession unhealthy for other sports: POA chief

July 11, 2020
Cricket's wild popularity in Pakistan forces other athletes in their shadow.

Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) President Syed Arif Hassan feels that the country’s obsession with cricket has left achievers in other sports neglected and that it is high time that sponsors and people start giving importance to other athletes as well.

Talking to a group of journalists, Arif Hassan – a retired Lieutenant general – said that athletes like Saadi Abbas, Inam Butt, Nadeem Arshad and national weightlifters had done well for the country and should get the due recognition.

“Cricket’s visibility has increased as it is played widely and for sure the situation has affected other sports. We’ll have to invest on other sports as well and tell the world about the achievement of players like Inam Butt, Saadi Abbas, Nadeem Arshad should get attention as well,” Arif Hassan told media.

He said that support for elite athletes is the responsibility of the federal government and the fact that sports is devolved to provinces under 18th amendment shouldn’t be an excuse.

“The elite athletes are the ones who can win medals for Pakistan at top level competitions and they are responsibility of the federal government. They should invest on them and grant should be on the basis of what’s required for training,” said the POA boss who has been at helm of affairs for almost two decades now.

He pointed towards India’s sports budget of around 17 billion, adding “their corporate sector is also investing and that’s why a large numbers of Indians have qualified for Tokyo.”

“Here, we give a mere Rs1.5m to sports bodies. Now tell us what can someone do with 15 lakh rupees. You can’t even organize a tour in that amount,” he rued.

Replying to a question, Lt Gen (rtd) Arif Hassan said that Pakistan was waiting to hear from the IOC on whether or not they’ll be among the beneficiaries of the $150m solidarity fund. He said that once their query was answered then the POA would chalk out its plan for the athletes of Tokyo Olympics.

He further said that the POA was looking to restart sports in country and the first step towards the resumption of sports will be to stage non-contact individual sports.

“We are looking to resume non-contact sports such as golf, archery, table tennis, tennis (single competitions) and I will request the government to consider allowing these sports. There are areas where lockdowns are being lifted so we can have these sports in such areas,” he added.

He also said that team selection for various sports is the job of federations while finances are to be managed by the PSB and liaison with international bodies are done by the POA, adding that it is always a coordinated effort.

He insisted that for the betterment of sports everyone must make collective efforts.

“I offer to the PSB and the Government of Pakistan to work together. If we avoid conflict with each other and contribute in whatever our roles are, then we can do wonders for Pakistan sports,” he said.

The POA boss said that the Executive Board of the PSB should be an effective body and not a ceremonial entity.

He also hinted that the next South Asian Games, to be hosted in Pakistan, will not be held in Islamabad, saying that other cities such as Faisalabad and Lahore are being considered as possible hosts.

“The development of infrastructure for next SAF games will commence only after we have identified venues. It is important to have federations involved in these matters as without their input there will likely be problems,” he said.

“Islamabad has hosted two SAF games editions. My personal proposal is to have the event in Lahore, Faisalabad or cities that produce players so that it can help us improve infrastructure,” he added.

Arif Hassan also confirmed that Quetta has been selected as host of next National Games.

Faizan Lakhani is Deputy Editor (Sports) at Geo News.

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