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What is wrong with Pakistan sports? (XIII)

By Zakir Hussain Syed

The financial allocation to the national sports federations should be based on national priorities. A detailed presentation of existing annual financial allocation for sports should be made to the Prime Minister including annual grant for each of the national sports federation together with a general pattern of special grants for foreign participation and hosting of foreign teams in Pakistan to bring home the fact that this amount is too meagre for any worthwhile improvement. Secondly, and most importantly, sports programming can function on quarterly releases of grants because it prevents any planning which is a fundamental pre requisite of sports development. The Prime Minister should be informed about the approximate requirement for a four-year programme of priority federations including foreign trips and local training with the request that all such allocations must be released at the start of the financial year. If political personalities like Qasim Zia, the Pakistan Hockey Federation president, can secure healthy financial releases why not other sports. This has to be one of the key decisions and proper homework needs to be done to convince the finance people on this critical issue.

4: Introduction of separate countrywide programmes for rural and urban youth: One must concede the fact that the base of physically fit youngsters in Pakistan has shrunk considerably in the past two decades and is shrinking further. One has only to look at educational institutions, colleges and universities to understand the gravity of this problem.

There are many reasons for this decline. If we wish to improve our sporting standards, we urgently need to expand this base. One could recommend dream plans to achieve this objective. But let us not forget that though many dreamt of constructing a Taj Mahal, only Emperor Shahjahan was able to convert this dream into a reality. It is, therefore, advisable to restrict ourselves to realistic options. The best, quickest and cheapest way to achieve this objective is to introduce country wide running programmes for under-16 and under-22 with attractive incentives and cash prizes. A well thought out proposal in this regard should be placed before the Prime Minister with the request that all the chief ministers should be taken into confidence to make these running programmes a success from the word go. The army athletes should not be allowed to participate in these events because I have already suggested such a programme for them. These running programmes should be held thrice a year.

5: Import of duty free sports goods: Pakistan, despite being the leading world hockey nation, has been unable to install more synthetic hockey pitches because of the prohibitive taxation and duties on this item. It is not a commercial item as such and is imported only by the PHF for national requirements. We should have laid a huge network of synthetic pitches all over the country but the taxation and import duty have been a hinderence. There are many other items such as shuttlecocks, badminton rackets, gym equipment sophisticated fitness equipment and scientific tools. The Prime Minster should be requested to exempt all such items when imported by sports ministry or PSB for national requirements.

6: Infrastructure development: Lack of sports infrastructure is one of the most common complaints made by sports officials. Part of it is justified but taken collectively this complaint holds no merit. One has only to look at the number of stadiums and other infrastructure built during the last 15 years to see that huge amounts have been spent on creation of sports facilities. However, when one looks at the utilisation and maintenance of these sports complexes, the facts and data will shock even the staunchest supporters of this demand. The reason is simple. Bulk of the entire newly created sports infrastructure was based on political influence of ministers and others with absolutely no system or guarantees for their upkeep and utilisation. The sports ministry now has its own development section and they should be asked to prepare a report of the infrastructure created, its utilisation time frame and funds spent on their upkeep.

7: Advertisement of the post of PSB chief executive: The Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) is like a national sports council of other countries that is normally headed by extremely competent individuals simply because they are required to play a leadership role. Until my appointment, the PSB director general was selected and appointed by the executive committee of the board followed by separate interviews by the committee headed by the secretary education followed by a committee headed by the education minister. So the governing ministry generally had a fair idea about the caliber of the persons they were recruiting.

The post of director general was then converted into a spoil post. The terrible fall out of this practise is there for all to see. Perhaps, only Brig Arif Siddiqi worked for the promotion of sport. All others had a swell time and really enjoyed themselves. Some of them were crazy after foreign trips. As such sports promotion was never a priority with them. There is an urgent need to change the existing system.

The post of PSB director general should be nationally and internationally advertised for Pakistani nationals and the most suitable candidate selected if we want to introduce efficiency and caliber into our system. The person brought to this post should be able to deliver and should have the capacity to take on those who have destroyed whatever little base we had in sports.

Pakistan has the capacity to do well at Asian and Commonwealth level and excel at SAF level provided we streamline our system. Pir Aftab Shah Jilani as sports minister has been given an opportunity to achieve this impossible goal. Let us hope that they get the basics right. Because when the right direction is determined, things are bound to improve. Granted that the current situation seems to be hopeless but I have always been an optimist and believe that where there is a will, there is a way.

Concluded

Zakir Hussain Syed was the first and youngest director general in the history of the Pakistan Sports Board. In this series of thought provoking articles, Zakir Hussain Syed has pinpointed some of the major ills afflicting our sports together with realistic solutions to these problems

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