by Asfandyar Suleri
A rather controversial, but somewhat, valid take. Are other major sports such as: hockey(the national sport of Pakistan), football (the world’s most followed and watched sport), basketball (statically the third most watched sport), and last but not least tennis.
Let’s talk about hockey,, Pakistan’s national sport, with a staggering 4 world cups, 8 Asian games gold medals (most out of any team), and 3 Olympic gold medals. A total of 29 international titles. However, all of these trophies were won ages ago; what happened to the most dominant team in the world?
There are often excuses made such as “they switched to turf” which does not really make sense as adaptability should not be a problem if proper training facilities are provided. The straightforward reason is that field hockey is just not the given attention it deserves; after all, it’s the national support of Pakistan. Then why does all of the budget reserved for sporting teams go towards cricket?
What about the other sports? Pakistan national football players have to make their living by food deliveries; simply because there isn’t a league system or professional matches at all that can provide for them. (videos of a national team player delivering food have been circulating around tiktok, Instagram etc.).
It does seem weird as nowadays football, in Pakistan, is arguably more popular than cricket. And ironically the most popular sport in the world; let’s not forget Pakistan was banned for several years by fifa, because the budget provided by fifa was used for some other purpose. Cricket has been given enough attention; and the team has disappointed the supporters more times than they have satisfied them. An example is the recent Bangladesh-Pakistan t20 Series where Pakistan lost “2-1”. The constant failures should be enough reason to switch focus to other sports.
Awareness must be raised on this matter, the hard working athletes deserve justice. Give them a chance to prove themselves, and they’ll bring this nation glory; they’ll be the pride and the future of Pakistan.
(Author is studying in A-Level at Westminster Academy, Islamabad
