‘Individuals don’t win medals, systems do’

Pakistan and the Olympics have proven to be a mismatch over the years and 2021 was no different. At an event where countries as small as Fiji — with an estimated population of less than a million — went on to win two medals, the athletes representing the green flag were nowhere to be seen.

One of the athletes who could’ve become the country’s brightest hope to win a medal in this year’s Tokyo Olympics was Saadi Abbas, but the irony was that he could not qualify for the event due to a lack of funds.

The 33-year-old was among the top ten karate players in the world in 2017 and was by far the best South Asian karateka. He was the only one from the region to win the Asian Karate Championship in 2011

Despite those proven performances, Saadi, while exclusively talking to Bol News, revealed that he found it hard to get any support from the government despite repeated requests over the years.

“I requested the government to bear my expenses for tournaments and give me a coach,” he said. “I was confident that I would not only qualify for the Olympics but also win a medal. I kept requesting the same from the last three years but I didn’t get any support.”

The Karachi-born disclosed that he did participate in a few tournaments courtesy of a small fund released to him by the Pakistan Olympics Association (POA) in the shape of a scholarship. However, those funds and tournaments were not enough for him to book a berth in the mega-event, something he feel bitter about.

“The sole responsible for it [my failure to qualify] is the government of Pakistan,” he said. “Individuals don’t win medals, systems win them. Therefore, the state lost a medal.”

‘100 years behind’

Saadi further went on to state that once a powerhouse at least at the regional level, Pakistan is now a country far behind the rest of the world.

“It feels like my country is 100 years behind in sports compared to the rest of the world,” he said. “Pakistan is on a constant decline which was evident in the Tokyo Olympics as well.”

Talking about the reason behind Pakistan’s demise in the sports world, the first-ever Asian Champion in all South Asian regions believes that despite doing well till the early 90s, the country could not compete with the rest when others managed to combine scientific methods to improve their athletes’ overall condition.

“We were doing fine till 1992 but things started to get messier when other nations of the world combined sports and science and began investing hefty amounts of money in its promotion,” said Saadi. “Their athletes’ condition improved significantly while our progress remained stagnant. After that, we put our sports in reverse gear.”

The 33-year-old was also of the opinion that the introduction of the 18th Amendment in the Constitution made things worse for sports in the country.

“Matters became more confusing than ever before,” he said. “With the amendment, the power has been distributed at the provincial level but the provinces are unable to produce any athlete. Federal is saying they don’t have power, provinces are saying they don’t have funds. Provinces are only willing to support their athlete while the sportspersons at the provincial level don’t have the standard required to compete in the international arena.”

Road to recovery

Despite all the negativity around, Saadi is of the opinion that not all is lost and there is still room to recover but for that, all the stakeholders must sit together and decide the future course of action.

“All the stakeholders will have to sit together and discuss their future steps, which should not only be restricted to the papers but must be implemented as well,” he said. “Everything is not lost. With proper planning and actions, we can do better in future events. While our ultimate objective should be to win medals at the Olympics in 2024 and then in 2028, we should start the rebuilding phase by targeting better performances in South Asian, Asian, Commonwealth and Islamic Games.”

He continued by saying: “Without providing anything, how can you question anyone? The government should invest in the federations that have been producing decent results despite minimal support. They should ask them to carve a three-year plan. Inquire them about their requirements, the budget they need, coaches they want, necessary training tours. If you don’t trust them, handle the finances yourself, pay yourself. After investing, question them if they don’t produce results.”

Identifying potentials

In a country where policies are based on short-term benefits and not long-term objectives, Saadi was of the opinion that the focus should be on the process, not the results.

“I believe sports must be divided into three categories,” he said. “The first should include sports where Pakistan have done well before and can potentially thrive in the next games such as weightlifting, boxing, wrestling and others. The second category can have sports where we have enjoyed glory in the past such as hockey and squash. Meanwhile, the third category can have team games like basketball where we have been nowhere. After categorising the sports, allocate the funds accordingly.”

Back the young stars

At the very end, Saadi urged authorities to back youngsters like weightlifter Talha Talib and javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem who came close to helping Pakistan in breaking their medal drought at the Tokyo Olympics.

“I believe now is the time to chalk out a three-year plan for them [Talha and Arshad],” he said. “They are young. Turn their focus to only win a medal in the next Olympic Games. Not only them but federations should prepare their backups as well in case of any injury. It is time authorities must invest in budding sportspersons and prepare them to shine in the Youth Olympics in 2026 as the same lot can bring medals for the country two years later in the Los Angeles Olympics 2028. We have so much talent in our country, we must target winning