I have been meaning to write for a while on the sorry state of sports in Pakistan and highlight ways it could be lifted out of the colossal mess that it is in and has been for decades at the hands of a powerful few who represent the status quo. There is a need for urgent reform.

I recently came across the PhD thesis of Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, the current director-general of Pakistan Sports Board (PSB), who writes extensively in his comparative study of elite sports programmes between Pakistan and Australia from 1947-2007. Dr Ganjera has had his fair share of spotlight due to his appointment, removal and reinstatement, and even though his performance in office deserves to be questioned, his research, in what seems to be a first major academic work examining sports policies and programmes in the history of Pakistan, is available in public domain.

In his study, Dr Ganjera makes a range of recommendations. One of the key recommendations from this research I would like to emphasise on is the establishment of a “task force” to review the existing sports sector and look at ways to reform it. The suggestion of a task force or a commission, however, doesn’t come directly from the author but it is something that the Nawaz Sharif government of 1997 had outlined though it never took place. It all starts in the honeymoon period of the Nawaz government when for the first time in Pakistan’s history a National Sports Conference was held on March 30, 1997 engaging with various sports bodies, Pakistan Sports Board, Pakistan Olympic Association and the Ministry or Sports.

Facing too many issues the sports sector in Pakistan is in need of urgent reform

The outcomes of this conference as highlighted by Dr Ganjera were to have provincial level sports conferences, increased funding, talent support schemes and setting up of a task force to examine the sports sector and improve on it based upon the findings and recommendations. Two years later in May 1999, the new sports minister Mushahid Hussain Syed convened the conference for the second time which saw various big federations and boards like those of cricket, football, squash, polo, wrestling and POA, boycott it and the minister himself had to leave midway through the conference to meet the prime minister. The outcomes of this conference were nothing new compared to the first conference and as admitted by a former DG PSB, these recommendations weren’t fully implemented.

Sports policymaking in Pakistan has very little or no history, which is well documented in the thesis and lack of interest shown by the authorities for decades, is demonstrated by a rapid decline of various sports and decreasing confidence of the general public in sports authorities. The only meaningful policy that has come so far is the 2005 Sports Policy which the PSB and the government has failed to fully implement having faced severe opposition from some of the bigger sports federations which lead to the International Olympic Committee’s involvement in resolving the matter. This has led to PSB and the government to backtrack after years of wrangling to come up with a new sports policy which it is said to be currently working on.

Thus making a case for a serious organisational review of the sports sector is critical before the government goes ahead in formulating a new sports policy. Pakistan’s sports sector and its national sports federations give an impression of an old communist state with strong power nexus of bureaucracy, politicians and servicemen. The time has come for Pakistan’s sport sector to take a plunge into the modern world and try to at least catch up with its neighbours in the region if not the rest of the world.

The task force or a commission whatever it may be called should be empowered to examine all aspects of Pakistani sport, governing bodies, private sports organisations, voluntary sports organisations and the government backed PSB. The formation of the commission and appointment of its members would be of highest importance, given that they would be up against some formidable organisations who do not like to reveal much about their internal affairs and will see this whole exercise as a threat to their autonomy and existence.

The commission should have full governmental support in accessing information about sports bodies and have the authority or recommend sanctions in any case of noncompliance. The review should be fully backed by the ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination and the Ministry of Planning and Development in order to formulate future policy on sports and development of sports infrastructure.

In order to move Pakistan’s sports sector along modern lines and into the 21st Century it is vital that the commission is comprised of none of the type that represent the current order. The commission should consist of individuals who represent key sectors that a truly modern sports sector should represent, that include high integrity professionals from the corporate sector examining the corporate governance and finance, marketing experts to assess the existing marketing strategies and practices, sports development and management professionals to examine the policies and programmes in development of sport. Organisational structures and media experts should also be on board to look into respective areas and come back with a comprehensive set of recommendations that should be binding and must be implemented in letter and spirit. The commission should also have fairer female representation once again from the various professional fields as argued above. The commission should be totally independent and must complete its work in a set timeframe.

This is something that the Inter-Provincial Coordination Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada and the DG PSB Dr Ganjera could initiate which should serve as ground-breaking work that could help reform the sports sector in Pakistan. After all it is something that has been reinforced by the DG PSB himself in his thesis having seen how the sports sector works in Australia and how a number of historic commissions contributed to reforming sport in Australia and the establishment of key institutions such as Australian Sports Commission and Australian Institute of Sport. Pakistan currently lacks several such bodies such as a Sports Institute which ideally oversees elite sport and the role of PSB is redefined into a body that works for the development of sport at the grassroots level and tackles issues around participation, facilities and coaching.

A non-existent professional sports sector has had a profound effect on the youth of the country, who cannot take up a career in off the field aspects of sport because there are no education institutes catering for such needs, teaching sports management, development, marketing and administration. All this leads to a human resource vacuum of sports related professionals which is then filled by the powerful nexus politicians, civil servants and serving/ex-servicemen who take up sports federations for one prime purpose; to diversify their careers and enjoy the power, prestige and perks that come with it.

So here is to hoping that Dr Ganjera implements his own recommendation that could usher Pakistan’s sports sector into a brighter future because it is not every day that you make an academic recommendation and then end up in a position of authority to which this recommendation was made. Whilst other key recommendations are also worth implementing, it would be a futile exercise if a comprehensive review of the sports sector isn’t carried out beforehand.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 22nd, 2015