From SSU commando to muay thai champion

Afridi won WMO Championship in 57kg category on March 17 after beating his Thai opponent

The tension between India and Pakistan was at its peak. India had just invaded Pakistan’s airspace and Pakistan Air Force had shot down an Indian plane three days later and captured its pilot alive.

During all this drama that took place in February, Special Security Unit (SSU) commando Khan Saeed Afridi landed in Thailand to participate in the International Martial Arts Games, which were to be played in March.

Afridi was the only Pakistani athlete who had landed in Thailand and as soon as he touched the ground, Pakistan’s airspace was closed. None of his fellow athletes, coach or official could join him.

Afridi contacted the embassy to only learn that no one will be able to reach the country and he will be all alone during the whole event.

The muay thai fighter wanted a bit of support behind him so he appealed to the Pakistani community in Bangkok to join him during his fights.

“I attended the opening ceremony alone, I was the flag bearer as well,” he recalled. “Everyone knew Pakistan had shot down an Indian plane and the people were like ‘khatarnak log agaye’ [the dangerous people have arrived]. There were about 100 countries [participating in the event] and I was all alone.”

The authorities announced the fight schedule and to everyone’s shock, Afridi was placed against his Indian counterpart, Tejasavi Vasu.

Indo-Pak encounters are always thrilling, but the recent series of events had made it even more nerve-wracking.

There is a norm that fighters in all of these combat sports are accompanied by a coach and teammates. However, Afridi did not have any.

Fortunately, Afridi had been visiting Thailand since 2011 for training and he had made a few friends there.

“The fighters present there came and stood at my corner, there was a coach from the Netherlands who stood by me, there were Syrians and fighters from other nationalities. In a few moments, they were all at my corner and it was like the world vs. India,” shared the 31-year-old.

The much-awaited fight started. Everyone expected a nail-biting contest full of punches, kicks, knees and elbows, but Afridi knocked Vasu down in merely 90 seconds.

In the next fights, the Pakistani fighter defeated New Zealand and Portugal’s opponents. “I was extraordinary in that event,” he maintained.

About 29 years ago from that event, in 1990, Afridi was born in Karachi. When he joined the school, a few of his friends used to attend karate classes and he too wanted to do the same. However, initially, he could not get permission to do so

He kept requesting his mother to allow him to take karate sessions at a branch of Kakri club near PIDC and he finally got it.

However, his father did not know about it. About six months later, there was a martial arts event in his locality and he won the competition. Everyone congratulated his father and this was where he got to know about it.

Seeing his son’s passion and progress, his father allowed him to play the sport. Later, Afridi’s father moved to Dubai and set up a transport business there, while the martial artist kept shining here.

In 2009, Afridi tasted his biggest win so far when he won the Gold in Sindh Games, followed by a decent run in the National Games.

Around that time, he learned about Thai boxing and shifted to that style of combat. However, it was not much different for him from karate and he just replaced his uniform with shorts.

In 2011, he went to Thailand to participate in a Thai boxing event, featuring 50 to 60 countries, where he stood at the fourth spot and got to know about what muay thai actually is.

“This was the real deal. I was playing it in Pakistan but I didn’t know anything about it. The use of elbow and knees, no one knew it,” he said, adding that very few people in Pakistan are aware of this style of combat in the country.

Being a professional athlete is expensive as you need to train hard and maintain a solid diet. In 2013, a friend of his persuaded him to apply in Sindh Police for the Special Security Unit (SSU).

“It was the first batch of SSU and I had joined it thinking that the department will help me in my sport and the salary was attractive too,” shared Afridi. “I trained with the unit for three years till 2015, for SWAT force, sharpshooting and did anti-terrorism course and VVIP protection course with the SSG commandos.”

In 2015, Afridi got an invitation to participate in an international martial arts event. He was excited and showed the letter to his reporting authority; however, he did not get permission to compete in the event.

A year later, he received another invitation to an event, Martial Arts Summit in Thailand, which was featuring countries like the United States of America and India. This time, he was determined to feature the campaign no matter what.

“I was not getting the NOC. I was not allowed to appear before the relevant authorities so that I could talk to them. So, without telling anyone, I just left for the event,” he said.

Afridi had his first bout against an Indian opponent. He had fled from his duty without informing anyone and losing to an Indian opponent might have made the scenario worse for him.

However, he knocked out his opponent in the first round and made the headlines everywhere. People were sending his commander, Maqsood Memon, wishes and he had no idea who the fighter was.

“He [Maqsood] was confused,” he mentioned. “He started contacting SSP, DSPs and others to know who this guy is. The sub-inspector level people told him that we don’t know where he is and we have dismissed him and all. They knew everything but they thought it will get them in trouble so they negated it.”

The commander, instead of scolding him, ordered his subordinates to find out when Afridi was returning.

He received a call when he was coming back from Thailand via a connecting flight in Abu Dhabi, inquiring about when he was coming back.

“I had no idea what was happening back in the country. My performance had caused a lot of stir. When I reached there, everyone was at the airport. I was scared, I thought I will be arrested,” he shared with laughter. “People lifted me on their shoulders. I was relieved. When I came out of the airport, I received full presidential protocol as SSU is trained to protect the VVIPs.”

Afridi’s feat opened new avenues for talented policemen as there was more acceptance for sports in the department. Before the martial artist made it big, there was no concept in Police of sending their people to international events.

“After that incident, the police department realised how sports can help them build their image,” he said. “My achievement paved way for other athletes, such as shooters and they got the chance to talk about participating in international events. It all started from there. Shaheer Afridi, the cop who recently won the middle-weight Asian boxing title is also my cousin.”

Maqsood and the former Sindh Police Inspector General were great support for Afridi. His commander gave him the freedom to represent his country and the department wherever and whenever possible.

Later in 2019, he got an email regarding the upcoming World Police Games. It was new to him, he had never heard about such an event before.

He did a quick online search and found out that the Games were scheduled to take place in China and he was not registered in the event thus far.

“Pakistan had never participated in that event. I searched about it and got to know that they are like Olympics of the Police department,” he reminisced.

He and Shaheer decided to participate in the event and they had to pay the fee in Dollars. He took his family’s help and sent the amount to the World Police Games’ account.

The global event featured around 11,000 athletes from around the world, including hundreds from India and other countries, while there were just two Pakistanis. “We aimed to represent Pakistan at its best, we wore traditional shalwar kameez with a waistcoat and Peshawari chappal and got everyone’s attention.”

The muay thai practitioner was phenomenal in the event and earned a Silver medal for his country. It was a humungous effort. This achievement called for a country-wide celebration, respect and reward.

“I was expecting a promotion or something after this win. I should have got at least one star on my shoulder if not two. Kaleem Imam announced Rs600,000 as a reward for me,” he recalled.

Forget the stars, the then IG had a rift with the government and he was transferred from his office. As a result, when Afridi went to collect the amount from the Police headquarters, he was told that he was not entitled to any such reward.

It was heartbreaking for the martial artist. Kanwar Moiz, a businessman, has been sponsoring Afridi since 2019. He always suggested the fighter quit the Police job and team up with him for all the endeavours.

However, the emerging star felt indebted to his department and also wanted to make things better for the athletes in Police.

Following this incident, Afridi finally decided to part ways with the Police in 2020 and rely solely on Moiz.

“After my retirement, I would have been posted somewhere with a gun in my hand and there would be no appreciation whatsoever,” feared Afridi.

After quitting Police, Moiz sponsored his fights in Thailand, where he got the better of his Chinese and Japanese counterparts.

He eventually got a shot at the World MuayThai Organisation (WMO) Championship in the 57kg category and won it on March 17 after beating his Thai opponent.

It was a huge achievement for the fighter and a proud moment for the country as well. However, it was overshadowed by all the political drama in the country between Tehreek-e-Insaf and Pakistan Democratic Movement and no one got to know about it.

The WMO champion is disappointed by the response he has received so far. Recently, he had an underwhelming meeting with President Dr. Arif Alvi as he was invited along with businessmen.

“I met President Dr Arif Alvi recently, just had a couple of photographs and that’s it. In fact, he had a meeting with me with other businessmen,” he complained. “There is coverage for negative events only. If anyone had done something wrong, it would have got all the attention.”

Afridi believes that there is little support in the country for the local sports star, while sponsors and other relevant people are always ready to shower foreigners with all the money and support.

“Let me quote Amir Khan’s example, what is he? He is nothing. Just a drama,” claimed Afridi. “He comes here, gets all the sponsors, while the state also gives him VIP protocol. Why is he being given all this? What has he done for Pakistan? He is not a Pakistani.

“Hussain Shah deserved the respect, but he didn’t get it. He rode donkey cart here and eventually went to Japan and became their national team’s head coach.”

“What is the logic behind the academy being named after Amir Khan?” he questioned.

The Muay Thai champion believes that someone from a humble background cannot survive in an individual sport in Pakistan.

According to him, they cannot even meet even the most basic expenses. He appealed to the business community to come forth and support the athletes.

“A normal kid from a humble background cannot bear the expenses of the sport. They cannot afford the diet or anything. They eat daal roti. Business community and multinationals will have to step up, otherwise, forget about the Olympics, they cannot even qualify for the global event,” he concluded.