Unsporting officialdom
There are no graceful retirements in the world of Pakistan sports, at least not when it comes to people running it. But the sadder part is that aspiring officials are even worse than the incumbents, which is why a successful coup often causes more harm than good
By Khalid Hussain

Pakistan is on the verge of getting banned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a result of a bitter power tussle between the country’s National Olympic Committee and an unconstitutional body that wants to take charge.

The country’s cricket set-up is also in turmoil at a time when Pakistan are getting ready to begin their ICC Champions Trophy campaign in England. Zaka Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, has been suspended by the Islamabad High Court over what it called a “dubious” and “polluted” process through which he was elected as the Board’s chief for a four-year term last month. Dissenting officials from several leading regional associations have joined hands to oust Ashraf in a bid to “make the national cricket set-up more democratic”. Ashraf’s supporters, meanwhile, reject the opposition as a bunch of vested interest elements, who they claim are desperate to cling to power even though their stints have expired.

Pakistan hockey could see a similar crisis once the new government headed by Mian Nawaz Sharif takes over as a long list of disgruntled ex-Olympians have been baying for the blood of top Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) officials for quite sometime. They argue that PHF president Qasim Zia and its secretary Asif Bajwa, who are also former Olympians, have lost all moral ground to run national hockey due to a series of failures by the Pakistan hockey team in major events like World Cup 2010 in India where they finished last. PHF kingpins reject all such criticism and stress that the ex-Olympians are motivated by self-interest as they want to take over the federation themselves.

A somewhat similar story repeats itself in several other sports, though on a smaller scale.

Power struggles, ego clashes, vested-interest elements and parallel groups in various games are some of the reasons why the standard of sports in Pakistan has dipped in the last few decades.

It’s not that these problems didn’t exist in the past. What has happened is that since the eighties, things have aggravated. Unlike their predecessors, many of whom used to run their respective federations and associations from their own pocket, today’s chairmen, presidents or secretaries of national sports bodies have substantial funds at their disposal. Many of them are jet-set and get royal treatment at major international sporting events like the Olympics, ICC World Cup of the Hockey World Cup. They aren’t willing to let go even if their performance is below-par or their terms have expired. There are no graceful retirements or resignations in the world of Pakistani officialdom, at least not when it comes to people running it.

But that’s just part of the problem. The other part comes in when aspiring officials want to get rid of people at the top in a bid to replace them. More often their goal is not to cleanse a particular sport by ousting long-serving top bosses but to get the jobs for themselves. Unfortunately, quite often the aspirants are even worse than the incumbents, which is why a successful coup often causes more harm than good to that particular sport.

Take for example the case of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), a body that is currently in a neck-deep crisis. On Thursday, the International Olympic Committee issued a stern warning that it will ban the country if the Pakistani government continued its interference in POA matters. Unfortunately, it seems that the government isn’t bothered. One of its ministries is actively supporting a parallel body labelled as the Interim Committee which has been gunning for the scalp of General (retd) Arif Hasan, the POA president. The Interim Committee argues that Arif’s third term as POA chief is illegal because the National Sports Policy doesn’t allow it. It has even “banned” Arif and POA secretary Khalid Mehmood for life. Whether that action holds any significance remains highly doubtful considering the IOC has time and again rejected the Interim Committee as an illegal body.

The power tussle has been going on for a while but Thursday’s IOC warning has brought it closer to boiling point. There is clear and present danger that like neighboring India, which was banned by the IOC because of its government’s meddling in the country’s sports affairs, Pakistan could also be slapped with international suspension.

Such a catastrophe should be avoided at all costs. Our government, which has emerged as a major stake-holder in national sports, will have to play a huge role in it. Instead of continuing to be a part of the problem, it has to become a part of the solution. Politicians and bureaucrats aren’t supposed to run national sports. Their support and patronage should be there but they can’t expect to become lords and masters of Pakistan sports.

Sports in Pakistan is at a crossroads. Like in the past, it still needs monetary help and support from the government. But in today’s world where sport is an industry worth billions of dollars, games like cricket, hockey and football or bodies like the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) or POA cannot be governed on the whims and fancies of the occupants of the President’s House or people running some ministry. It is high time that we rethink the way we deal with sports in our country. Otherwise, things will only get worse for Pakistan sports.

Khalid Hussain is Editor Sports of The News, Karachi

Khalid.hussain@thenews.com.pk

The last trophy
By Khurram Mahmood

The ICC Champions Trophy is one of the most prestigious ODI tournaments after the World Cup.  It was inaugurated as the ICC Knockout Tournament in 1998 and has been played approximately every two years, the last edition being the current campaign of 2013.

The idea of the trophy was conceptualised by Jagmohan Dalmiya; President ICC in the late 1990’s. Australia were winners in the last two editions and are confident to complete a hat-trick of titles.

Since 2009, the tournament has only involved the eight highest-ranked ODI teams as of six months prior to the tournament. Pakistan are yet to get their hands on the prestigious trophy; or reach the final.

But Misbah-ul-Haq and company are confident to break the jinx in this last attempt; With special concentration on the match against arch-rivals India on June 16.

The inaugural tournament was held in Dhaka in October 1998 and was won by South Africa who beat the West Indies in the final by four wickets. Proteas’ veteran Jacques Kallis clinched the man-of-the-match and man-of-the-series title with his all-around performances.

Nine teams took part in the event: South Africa, Sri Lanka, India and the West Indies progressed to the semi-finals. Pakistan had to face defeat at the hands of West Indies by 30 runs.

The second edition of the Champions Trophy was held in Nairobi, Kenya, in October 2000. Eleven teams participated in the event. New Zealand surprised India in the final by four wickets. It was the Kiwis’ first major title triumph.

Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh made their debut for India during this tournament. Eleven teams took part in the event. Pakistan failed to qualify for the final yet again. Suffering defeat at the hands of New Zealand by four wickets. In the final, India posted a good total of 264-6 in 50 overs. In reply, the Kiwi top-order collapsed to 132-5, but Chris Cairns turned the match with his undefeated 102 off 113 balls. He added 122 runs for the sixth wicket with Chris Harris (46) and New Zealand lifted the title. Chris Cairns was declared the man-of-the-match.

The third Champions Trophy was held in Sri Lanka in 2002.It was the first time a dozen teams took part in this prestigious tournament. The participants were the 10 full members of the ICC plus the Netherlands and Kenya. The pattern of the tournament was changed and the teams were divided in four groups and top team from each group qualified for the semi-finals. Pakistan were placed with hosts Sri Lanka and the Netherlands.

Pakistan lost their match against Sri Lanka by eight wickets. Sri Lanka qualified from the group after winning both matches. India and Sri Lanka qualified for the final after winning their matches against South Africa and Australia, respectively. Heavy rains delayed the final for two consecutive days. On the first day, India, chasing 245, were 14-0 in two overs when rain stopped the game. On day two, India, now chasing 223, were 38-1 in 8.3 overs when rain again interrupted the play. With the match abandoned, the trophy was shared by the two teams.

The next edition of the trophy was held in England in 2004. Again 12 teams participated as the United States made their international debut. Pakistan improved their record and won both round matches, against Kenya and India and qualified for the semi-final where they looked all set for a victory over the West Indies. By the 39th over, Pakistan were bowled out for a mere total of 131 runs at the hands of Collymore, Bravo and Hinds who took two wickets each. The West Indies reached the target in the 29th over for the loss of three wickets.

In the other semi-final, hosts England beat the World Champions Australia by half a dozen wickets.

The final saw West Indies chasing a modest target of 218 thanks to the 71-run partnership between Ian Bradshaw and Courtney Browne after they were at one stage 147-8. Ramnaresh Sarwan was declared the man-of-the-tournament.

In 2006, the Champions Trophy came back to Asia and was held in India. Only 10 teams participated and no Asian side qualified for the semi-finals. Pakistan’s performances were miserable. They won against Sri Lanka but lost important games against South Africa and New Zealand.

In the first semi-final, Australia beat New Zealand by 34 runs, while the West Indies defeated South Africa by six wickets.

Australia lifted their first Champions Trophy when they beat the West Indies by eight wickets. West Indian opener Chris Gayle was named Player of the Tournament.

The previous edition of the Champions Trophy was held in 2009 South Africa, with a new format as only top eight teams participated in it.

The campaign saw Pakistan give their best performance in the trophy for 20 years, as they beat India and the West Indies comprehensively and qualified for the semi-final, while India failed to reach that stage.

In the first semi-final, Australia beat England by nine wickets. New Zealand reigned supreme against Pakistan in the second semi-final by five wickets.

In the final, Australia outclassed New Zealand. They first restricted the Black Caps to 200-9 and then Shane Watson’s unbeaten 105 of 129 balls ensured Australia won the ICC Champions Trophy for the second time in a row.

khurrams87@yahoo.com

Cricket: Conflicts and controversies
By Omair Alavi

There are those who love books on cricket. Then there are those who want to know all about controversies. But when you get the combo of both ñ Cricket and Controversies — you hit the jackpot. Author Kersi Meher-Homji’s ‘Cricket Conflicts and Controversies’ is one such book that keeps you engrossed from the first page to the last, because it offers you things from the land of the lost!

This is Kersi Meher-Homji’s 14th book, and by churning out brilliant headlines for the chapters, he proves that he is an old hand. He accurately records the game’s conflicts and controversies, detailing their historic importance as well as the political perspective, wherever he could find one. The book is divided into two parts — Major Conflicts and Controversies, and Minor Conflicts and Controversies. What he manages to prove is that the game that we believe has lost its nobility never had one in the first place.

This book brings back all cricket scandals to life and provides you an insight into the high-profile conflicts on and off the field. For 220 pages, you are taken on a trip to the land of cricket where all is not what it seems. The secret of enjoying this book is to read it from the start till the end, with as less breaks as possible. The more you go deep into the world of controversies, the more enchanted you would feel. And I am not talking about the case involving Pakistani cricketer Salim Malik and Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne, Indian captain Mohammad Azharuddin, Sri Lankan off-spinner Muralitharan or Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, because we know all there is to know about them.

Did you know that Indian captain Vizzy sent back his team’s main batsman and captain-in-waiting Lala Amarnath home just to prolong his stay as captain? Or that Basil D’ Oliveira’s inclusion messed up the South Africans to such an extent that they were banished from International sports for more than 2 decades? I bet you didn’t know why Indian captain Bishan Singh Bedi declared the innings in a test match against West Indies, which had nothing to do with the strategy!

So even if you knew about all these incidents, much more is to follow. I haven’t mentioned the ones that nobody knows about, because then you will not go for this conflict collection would you? This book has all controversies listed from the bloody Bodyline to the infamous ‘Bollyline’ series also known as Indian Premier League. It also exposes the un-gentle side of the gentlemen’s game by bringing forth the on-field issues between players, bribery and drug taking allegations as well as the famous underarm incident.

Did you know that controversy has always been part of cricket and long before cricketers from the Indian subcontinent disrepute the game, the Aussies, English and Proteas were famous for doing so! It was William Lambert who was amongst the first to be kicked out of cricket for match-fixing, not Salim Malik or Hansie Cronje. In fact it happened in June 1817, long before any of the grandfathers of the former Pakistani and South African captains were born!

You would be surprised to know that Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt were not the first cricketers to be jailed; there was a Ted Pooley who was imprisoned before the inaugural 1877 Test between England and Australia. No book about cricket controversies is complete without the mention of the ‘Faisalabad Affair’ where England captain Mike Gatting and Pakistani umpire Shakoor Rana traded verbal tirades. Same can be said for the flaming Bombay Test, the forfeited Oval Test between Pakistan and England as well as the ‘Monkeygate Affair’ featuring Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh.

Pakistan is also mentioned on many occasions in the book because cricketers from this part of the world do get carried away at times. The author rates Shahid Afridi’s ‘bite the ball incident’ against Australia and the ‘Sydney Fiasco’ where Kamran Akmal dropped more catches than he held as Pakistan’s best entries into his book. That doesn’t mean that the rest of the countries aren’t mentioned here. Due share is given to Michael Atherton’s tampering incident, Dean Jones’ mistimed terrorist joke, Tony Grieg’s grovel snub and the various chucking affairs that hit the game every now and then. Even the little-known on-the-field and off-the-field rivalry between Sir Don Bradman and his teammates Jack Fingleton and Bill O’ Reilly will make you go ‘Oh Really’ because that’s exactly what this book does.

Cricket is a game that generates endless argument. Be it cricketers who are alive, or those who left us like David Hookes, Bob Woolmer and Peter Roebuck, every death is treated suspiciously because when you are a cricketer, you are expected to retire, not die!  And if you think the current IPL spot-fixing case is bad, think again because the same thing happened in 2012, when 5 cricketers were arrested and many others were humiliated for being themselves. Whether it was Aussie cricketer Luke Pomersbach, South African bowler Wayne Parnell, Indian spinner Rahul Sharma or Bollywood star Priety Zinta, each had a ‘memorable’ moment that they would like to forget, but this book doesn’t let the readers forgive them.

As former Australian cricket captain Greg Chappell writes in the foreword, “Cricket is a wonderful game. It has been blessed with admirable characters and champions throughout its history as well as the odd villain.” This book is about the villains and their feats which got lost somewhere along the way. Go ahead and read, you can’t call yourself a cricket buff if you haven’t gone through this marvelous book!

omair78@gmail.com

Clash of the champions
We have the eight top teams of the cricket scene on display 
at the Champions Trophy so any predictions are hazardous
By Chishty Mujahid

Currently the world of cricket is in a bit of a bother and that is an understatement. Apart from England and South Africa and to some extent, the West Indies, the rest of the participants of the Champions Trophy 2013 in England and Wales are facing major or minor turbulence in their rank and file, but it is turbulence nevertheless.

The uncrowned emperors of modern cricket — “monarchs of all they survey” the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) — are, to put it mildly, in a soup. The happenings in IPL (always under suspicion since its inception in 2008) this time round really got very messy with the spot-fixing scandal assuming alarming proportions; suspensions, arrests and remands coming into play. The aftermath of all this is that the President of the BCCI’s position is in real jeopardy and there are calls from various quarters for his resignation. Meanwhile, the Indian legislators have a bill on the anvil to make betting (gambling) on sports legal as it is, I believe, in horse racing. Because of the paucity of space and in deference to the limit on the reader’s time suffice it to say that there is a world of difference between legalised gambling on sports, and match and spot-fixing. Please remember that gambling on sports and the institution of bookies and punters is legal in the West, including England.

In UK, it is regulated by the Gambling Commission and rules and regulations are enshrined in the Gambling Act 2005, which updated the laws on gambling. Bingos, casinos, gambling on sports, scratch cards, lotteries and even internet gambling are all legal but carefully monitored and regulated. There are betting shops and booths at most sports grounds whether they are football, rugby, cricket stadia or race courses.

“Match and spot-fixing” in sports is an entirely different kettle of fish. “Fixing” in sports is like “doping” of horses which is a criminal offence. If betting is legalised it will undoubtedly bring in huge revenues for the official exchequer (maybe that is what the Indian legislators are eyeing) but rather than curbing, leave alone eradicating, the malaise of “fixing” it may increase it. In short, the Indians have serious problems and some very influential voices in Indian cricket have called for investigating the BCCI chairman, chief of IPL and even the captain of Indian cricket, who led one of the franchises team in the recently concluded IPL. It is in the backdrop of these events that India will go into the Champions Trophy 2013. Not an enviable position.

The ICC, the conscience keeper of cricket, needs to act more swiftly and positively to rid us of this “match/spot fixing” menace. It is time that its ACSU play a proactive role here.

In the case of IPL, the ICC very conveniently takes refuge by stating that it is India’s domestic event. Yet, it nominates its umpires and referees to oversee the event. They even act on media reports to take action against their appointed officials.

Pakistan’s Cricket Board (PCB), because of the ineptness and mishandling of its officers, is being dragged through courts of law. PCB’s attempts to bulldoze their way to “democratisation” by enforcing the ICC “approved” constitution and holding some sort of elections went awry and were challenged. The position at the time of writing this is that PCB does not have a chairman. I am sure there is a provision in the new constitution about an acting chairman — the CEO? The COO? Or who?

Meanwhile, life goes on. Preparations are in full swing for staging the 7th and final edition of the ICC Champions Trophy in England and Wales from June 6-23.

Pakistani players have had some very useful practice before embarking on their bid to win the coveted Cup for the first time in seven attempts. This has included a short and intense “refresher” for their bowlers; a training camp in the cool climes of hilly Abbottabad for the entire squad and an acclimatisation tour of Scotland and Ireland for four ODI’s, and two warm up games. All this should stand them in good stead. The management have done all in their power. It is now for the players to deliver. And deliver they can.

Sri Lanka have had their ups and downs. At one time Cricket Sri Lanka faced a severe financial crunch and they borrowed heavily to overcome this problem, sometimes they have had to deal with players’ unrest regarding payment and acceptance of fresh contracts and at others the board’s own administrative problems including elections. CSL in fact kept quiet when the IPL were forced by the Tamil Nadu government to “ban” Sri Lankan cricketers of the IPL from entering Chennai or any other part of the state because of the Tamil situation in the island; and India and the ICC profess to keep politics separate from cricket.

The Sri Lankan selectors have decided on giving the youngsters a chance to be the captain and vice-captain while including some seniors including three former skippers in the squad. Unlike in the past, Sri Lanka have youngsters as the nucleus of the team with the others playing around them. A bold experiment. Good luck to them.

Of late, Australia have had internal problems in their ranks. First we saw the “retirement” of Michael Hussey and then the “resignation” of Shane Watson from the vice-captaincy. Some senior players are also missing from their ranks. It is now up to Michael Clarke (who hopefully would have improved his man management skills) and his charges to try and win the Champions Trophy for a third time. They are a fine all-round bunch though weak in spin bowling and a bit suspect in the middle order batting. Hopefully for them, they will make up any deficiencies through their alert, agile and safe fielding. The going will not be a cake walk; but Australia have always been a capable lot.

The New Zealanders have been a troubled lot since Daniel Vettori stepped down from the captaincy. His successor, Ross Taylor had an uneven tenure before being “sacked”, after which he “walked out” of the team. His replacement Brendon McCullum has as yet not been able to gel the side into a well oiled unit in spite of the fact that Taylor is now back in the squad as the leading batsman, as is Vettori as the main spinner. New Zealand’s continuous but familiar batting collapses against England in the recent Tests will give them enough food for thought. How they would like to have a repeat of their performance in the event in Kenya in 2000.

England and South Africa go into the fray with comparatively free minds, yet with the pressure of being regarded as favorites which is always a heavy burden to bear. England will miss Kevin Pietersen, and the Proteas would lack the services of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. Both sides have worthy replacements. The West Indies would be rubbing their hands and wishing for a repeat of their 2004 performance when they defeated hosts England to lift the trophy. 

We have the eight top teams of the cricket scene on display, so any predictions are hazardous. England and Pakistan are the only two teams who have never won this title; the others have, albeit shared between Sri Lanka and India in 2002 in Colombo when persistent rains at the Premadasa washed out the two days including the reserve day. Hope the rains stay away as there is no reserve day here.

Enjoy the games, and may the best team win.

chishty.mujahid@yahoo.co.uk

Good performances amid mismanagement
By Alam Zeb Safi

The National Football Challenge Cup produced new champions in the shape of National Bank who had been struggling in spite of a huge investment by the authorities for the last several years.

In the final, they beat the 2011 and 2012 runners-up Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) 1-0 when striker Mohammad Asif struck in the 81st minute at the Dring Stadium in Bahawalpur last Sunday.

This was only the second major title for the bankers in their long football history. They had lifted their first major title also in Bahawalpur way back in 1993 when they had beaten Pakistan Steel in the final of the Pakistan Inter-Departmental Championship.

The credit goes to National Bank’s coach Nasir Ismail who did a fine job and silenced his critics. Nasir used to be blamed for his team’s ordinary performances. But the victory in the Challenge Cup turned out to be a historic event in Nasir’s life as a coach. It is expected to prolong his career as the coach of the bank.

In the event, played in very hot conditions, National Bank were the only team that brought improvement as the tournament went on which is a pre-requisite for a good team. National Bank’s sports chief and former Test spinner Iqbal Qasim must be very happy with his team’s achievement.

After losing to Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in a game that was to decide the group winners, National Bank not only shocked the four-time defending champions Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) in the quarter-finals, but also defeated WAPDA in the semi-finals.

Skipper Abdul Aziz, the South Asian Games gold medalist, led the bankers by example and Pakistan team officials said he deserved to be invited for the SAFF Cup camp.

KESC, who had lost to KRL in the 2011 and 2012 finals, once again failed to kiss the crown, this time losing to a comparatively weaker team.

But they, too, deserve praise as they showed enormous consistency in their performance and played another final. That their skipper Mohammad Essa was not fully fit throughout the tournament was a very important factor in their being unable to clinch the cup.

The biggest disappointment was KRL’s ouster from the event at the hands of National Bank in the quarter-finals on penalties. KRL, who had entered the tournament after qualifying for the final round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President’s Cup in the Philippines, also suffered a shocking 1-2 defeat at the hands of the debutants Pak Afghan Clearing Agency (PACA) in the group stage.

It was the worst ever performance from KRL during the last five years since they have been transformed into a top unit after the induction of so many international stars.

Pakistan Air Force (PAF), who got the bronze medal, emerged as a strong side, putting all of their opponents in trouble.

They mostly had young players and their striker Mohammad Mujahid, who made his international debut against Nepal a few months ago, played an instrumental role in his team’s success story.

PAF coach and former international Mohammad Arshad also merits commendation as he has been doing a fine job and has transformed the outfit into a winning unit.

WAPDA, who lost to PAF 2-0 in the play-off for the third place, once again failed to impress. Although they had inducted a few new players, they failed to reach the top, which must be a cause for concern for their management.

Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), who both failed to go beyond the league stage, will have to hire experienced players in order to raise their standard.

National Under-18 team, who lost to KESC in the quarter-final, impressed every one. They played like a unit and even defeated former two-time Premier League champions Army in the group stage.

This is the same batch which the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) wants to see in the 2022 World Cup, a dream which is not likely to be fulfilled because of the way they treated the young boys.

The PFF had lodged the Under-18 team in a hostel which had no facilities. According to sources the colts were seen fetching water for themselves from the nearby guest house and also had to prepare meals in the absence of a cook.

Besides, the team played without a physiotherapist. Ironically, the PFF sends its physiotherapist Dr Kamran Mehdi with national teams on every foreign tour, but it has never asked him to look after the national team at domestic competitions.

Due to unscheduled heavy load-shedding the Under-18 players could not sleep at night. The PFF should not have fielded the team in the tournament if it was no ready to facilitate its future stars. This team, coached by Sajjad Mehmood, had defeated India in the final of the Under-16 SAFF Cup in Nepal in 2011.

The Bahawalpur Football Association miserably failed to organise the Challenge Cup in a betting manner. Initially, the event was being played at two venues, but the Ground No 2 was discarded after it hosted a couple of matches. Although the organisers claimed that the matches had been shifted due to the presence of honey bees at the Ground No 2 which could have disturbed the matches, sources said that the venue was dropped because of lack of the required facilities.

Every match played under floodlights was disturbed by the repeated suspension of the electricity. The organisers had managed a couple of power generators but they failed to overcome the problem. Most of the teams had to face trouble due to intermittent suspension of lights which used to break the tempo of the players.

Before organising the tournament the PFF had issued letters for inviting bidders and had instructed that the organisers would have to bear the expenses amounting to Rs600,000, while the rest of the expenses of the tournament amounting to Rs1,800,000 would be met by the PFF. But no one, particularly in Karachi, was ready to host the event which shows the weakening of the relationship of the PFF with the corporate sector and organisers.

The PFF must regain confidence of the corporate sector and the organisers which is very important for the promotion of football in the country.

The Challenge Cup should not have been conducted in such a hot weather as the players could not extend their best with the mercury touching the 47 degree Celsius mark on some occasions.

Karachi would have been a better choice as the weather at night here was much better than Punjab and the duration of load-shedding was also less than the rest of the country.

Abbottabad or Peshawar could also have proved better choices. Pakistan’s Serbian coach Zavisa Milosavljevic also watched the slots. He was seen busy picking probabales for Pakistan’s team which will be featuring in the SAFF Cup in Nepal from September 1-11.

Moreover, the PFF Technical Study (TSG) Group also picked Under-23 players. According to sources 40 junior players have been shortlisted for future assignments.

As per complaints of the officials of the participating teams the performance of the referees was once again below par. It is an area on which the PFF should focus, particularly ahead of the Premier League. The authorities must devise a plan so that the referees could not be influenced and that they could work freely.

73.alam@gmail.com

Change through sports
By Aamir Bilal

Irrespective of the results, the 2013 elections can be safely termed as a milestone in the political history of Pakistan, as it has brought a new political paradigm in the life of common man by energising the youth and awakening a large segment of our society from their deep slumber. Numerous people voted for the first time to play their part in shaping the destiny of Pakistan.

“Change” was perhaps the most common word during the election campaign and even uttered by those simple and poor people of the country who are unaware of their rights as citizens.

Change is must for the survival and good of our next generations, but the process is much more complex than it seems.

The change will come when it starts from self and the way we think and perceive. Change starts from the way we think.

Perhaps the most important factor in bringing a sustainable, positive and visible change in any society is through investment in its human capital through quality education. 

History is full of examples where governments invested heavily in developing human capital by all possible means to change the social and political landscape of their countries.

“How Countries Compete” by Richard HK Vietor published by Harvard Press gives a very comprehensive account of those nations that reached the zenith of development trough investing in their human capital and assured deliverance through justice and transparency.

The challenge is intimidating, as our leaders have wasted sixty-five precious years in experiments. They chose not to opt for the many new and out-of-the-box solutions found by different developing countries to their problems.

One such solution for bringing about social change and empowering the youth is “Sport”. Sport is one of the most cross-cutting of all development and peace tools. It is now increasingly being used not only to produce “world champions” but to promote health, prevent disease, strengthen child and youth development and education, foster social inclusion and prevent conflict.

Sport for Development & Peace initiatives can play a powerful role in both preventing and helping to address a broad range of social, political and economic challenges. They can be a very effective and low-cost means of reducing the individual and public costs associated with development challenges.

We in Pakistan know little about the use of sport for peace and development. Our focus remains on “competitive sport” and its development through respective sport federations, boards and associations.

From terrorism to power crisis and from financial bankruptcy to ethnic divides, the newly elected governments at centre and provinces face a daunting task of nation building and putting the country back on the road to prosperity. In such a situation, youth are the most vulnerable.

The youth of Pakistan forms 60 percent of its population. The new government, besides tackling other problems, must also bring in sustainable policies to address the issues faced by youth.

Investing in children and youth today will ensure that they are healthy and emotionally capable of managing the critical life transition ahead of them. This all can and should be done by taking sport back to education. The link between sport, child and youth development, and education was first formalised on international stage in 1952.

The United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recognised sport as a tool for education and incorporated sport into its programme at the seventh session of its General Conference in Paris.

This was followed by 1959 UN Declaration of the Rights of the Children, 1978 UNESCO charter of Physical Education and Sport. In 1999 the third International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials responsible for Physical Education and Sport (MINEPS) put forward the all important “Declaration of Punta Del Este”, which committed to a focus on sport for all, with particular attention to participation of children and women.

Following the report of the UN Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for Development and Peace in 2003, the UN General Assembly passed a series of resolutions entitled “Sport as a Means to Promote Education, Health, Development and Peace in 2003, 2004 and 2006”.

Another very important development which should have been studied and implemented by our “Sport & Education specialists” in the country was the 2005 Resolution on Development & Sport adopted by the European Parliament, which recognised sport as a low-cost, high-impact tool for development.  This resolution specifically acknowledges sportís positive contribution to the reintegration of children in post conflict situation, as we have presently in KPK and FATA in Pakistan.

When I interact with the youth as a university teacher, I notice the immense potential, energy and IQ in them, but the component of life skills is sadly missing which canít be inherited like IQ but has to be consciously built through planned activities like sport education programmes.

Our youth needs to develop skills for team building, showing resilience, communicating and making decisions. This will make them tolerant, peaceful, flexible and globally acceptable citizens.

Our new government should establish a secretariat within youth or education ministry to deeply study and incorporate sport for development interventions for bringing a sustainable change within the society.

We need to stop worrying about the lack of sports grounds and equipment and grow out of the shadow of cricket and field hockey because these games require large spaces and expensive equipment.

The officials managing education and sports affairs will have to sit together and work with schools and communities to offer co-curricular and extracurricular sport and physical education programmes.

The government will have to ensure that community-based sport and physical activity programmes are available for children and youth.  The youth of Pakistan looks forward to its new leadership to invest in development programmes for them.

I am sure that bringing sport in the fold of national development strategies will open new opportunities for the youth. Such programmes will not only contribute to bringing the much-needed social change in our stressful society, but it will also lay the foundations of sport as a “human intensive industry” capable of generating millions of jobs for the youth.

sdfsports@gmail.com

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