Inam urges govt not to abolish departmental sports system

KARACHI: Pakistan’s premier wrestler Mohammad Inam has advised the government to review its decision to abolish departmental sports teams, saying it would be better to make a mechanism first before going ahead with the plans.

“The government should first make a mechanism which could act as a proper alternative to the existing system. If you have no proper mechanism and you abolish the existing departmental system it will be a huge disaster for players and the entire sports system,” Inam told ‘The News’ in an interview.

The government is working on altering the existing system and has advised departments to stop funding their teams and divert it to support regional teams. A few days ago a meeting of the the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the IPC ministry was held with the heads of departments in Islamabad to discuss this matter. It is highly likely that the departmental system will be abolished.

But Inam said that regional system is not the right option for Pakistan’s sports. “The premier is trying to replicate the systems in Australia and England but such a system won’t work here as their priorities are totally different. In England and Australia players opt for playing sports as a mere hobby as the per capita income of those people is very high and they can achieve their sports ambitions by managing things for themselves. In Pakistan the story is totally different as 95 percent of players here belong to lower strata of society,” he said.

“In Pakistan players take up sports because they see job opportunities in them and if you remove this charm then no one will come to sports and parents will never let their children opt for sports as a profession,” Inam said.

“The government officials should discuss this matter with the country’s leading players as they can give good advice on the subject. I don’t think any proper system will replace the existing one. If we talk about cricket, the PSL is there and players can earn money in a short time through this professional league but in other sports like wrestling and athletics there are no professional leagues and it would be very difficult for the athletes of these sports to survive,” Inam said.

A senior official of the PSB told this correspondent recently that super elite players will be properly safeguarded if anything is done towards implementing the plans.

The official also said that provinces will also be bound to award cash prizes to the medal-winners in the international circuit.

It is also expected that the regular players’ jobs will be secured but contractual players will have to go home.

But Inam said if a player with a regular job is sent on duty he will no longer act as a player. “I don’t think a player who is sent on duty will train as it is not possible if you work in office for eight hours or so,” Inam said.

He said that it would be better to slaughter the athletes rather than snatch jobs from them. “It will affect a large number of families. I again will say that the government should first review its plans before going ahead in order to avert any big issue in future. Yes, if you give proper alternatives and better privileges and ensure the players’ financial safety then such steps can be taken,” Inam said.