Surrounded by buildings and shops in a densely-populated area of Karachi the KMC Football Stadium is like an oasis for the lovers of football, men and women, girls and boys alike.

“We host two matches a day here every Saturday and Sunday and I charge Rs3,000 for renting out the ground for one match. So I have Rs12,000 every weekend out of which I spend on the ground,” says Jan.

“Most of the teams playing here are club squads from Clifton and Defence. There are girls’ teams, too. I know there are far better football grounds at safer localities but everyone feels right at home from the time they step on my ground. I make sure of it,” he adds.

Today, Jan is hoping for some timely rain. “I want the ground lush all the time. I have ordered manure but we need water, too, and three of my watering machines are out of order. Still I have faith in God. Whatever I ask Him, He gives. I know there will be rain soon,” he says while looking across his ground.

Despite receiving no funding for its maintenance, Ahmed Jan, the keeper of KMC Football Stadium, keeps his ground green and in perfect condition for the matches hosted there

Representing Pakistan as FIFA referee in China

Bullets

In Karachi, today, when several amenity plots and grounds have been converted into parking lots or marriage lawns, Jan has done all he can to save the KMC Football Stadium from this menace.

“I have been offered Rs2,000,000 to hand over the ground to the marriage lawn people. They say they will get it regularised, too, and also offer me one per cent of the share from the business they’ll do but I tell them to go away,” says Jan.

But some of those he sent away came back. With guns. And they shot Jan five times. “I don’t know how I survived,” Jan says looking skywards. “God is great!”

The keeper of the stadium is not a rich man. His daughter was about to get married at the time and she spent the Rs25,000 saved up for her dowry on her father’s treatment.

Girls train at KMC stadium

Of FIFA and flying high

Jan, who has been keeper of the ground since 1989, actually joined the KMC as a seventh grade officer in 1971. The ground itself, originally named Municipality Stadium, was constructed in 1962. “I was hired as a driver, initially, but somehow I reached here. Actually, my whole aptitude was towards sports, especially football.

“When I was 16 years old, we used to live in the quarters near this stadium. I loved watching the players who used to come here to play. They were so talented, they were absolutely great. Lyari is the hub of football in Pakistan and most of the players hailed from Lyari. Watching them I realised that I could never be as good as them. Growing up and playing with them I was sure of it. Then my team captain, Mohammad Umar, said that I could be a referee if not a player,” says Jan.

Bahadur Khan, chairman of Pakistan Referee Board, was impressed with Jan’s decision-making power. “After passing the referee exam, I refereed several matches. When players don’t agree with you, they can turn wild. But I stood by my decisions. As a result, yellow and red cards flashed and team players and spectators clashed with each other. There is no concept of security here. I had to control everything, and I did that,” he says.

‘I have faith in God. Whatever I ask Him, He gives,’ says Jan

As FIFA referee, Jan got to travel the world. “There was a time I never thought I’d ever go beyond Landhi. I always watched planes flying overhead with amazement and wondered how it felt being in one,” he says. “And then when the day came and I got to sit in a plane, I was worried when the airhostess offered me a moist face towel. I thought she wanted me to clean up as I wasn’t presentable enough to sit in her plane,” he laughs at the memory.

Caring for the ground

Jan shares some memories from his album

Jan has albums full of pictures of his referee assignments abroad. He also has other albums full of football matches that took place at the KMC Ground over the years. “This was the only big football ground in Karachi at one time. Sailors used to get off their ships and come play here. Outfits of different countries played here. It’s all gone now what with the construction of other grounds and hardly any international football activity in Pakistan these days. Still, I keep those memories alive by keeping this ground alive,” he says.

“We get money for the upkeep of the KMC Ground, but it is on paper only,” he shares. “Not a single rupee reaches me. I don’t even have any KMC staff to assist me in taking care of such a huge facility so I have hired a young fellow whom I pay Rs1,500 a month. Another kid I pay Rs200 a day to keep the place clean,” he says.

In 2009, the main pavilion sank. “We didn’t use it for three to four years but then the contractor for the trauma centre for the Civil Hospital being constructed was a friend and I requested him to kindly repair our broken pavilion too if he could spare some material and men from there. This is how we rebuilt the pavilion,” Jan explains.

“This ground was part of bigger sports facility once. It was part of the Lawn Tennis Club of the KMC with three tennis courts, a squash court and a badminton hall. But some general’s nephew during Ziaul Haq’s martial law came to illegally possess the whole place. I spoke to him and convinced him to at least leave this ground alone, which he did as he was a student at a nearby college and being the elder here I had also settled many differences among student factions through football matches,” he points out.

The newly-repaired pavilion

Jan retired from the KMC in 2011, but he is still here taking care of the ground. “I joined KMC in grade seven and retired in grade seven, leaving after 40 years of service with just Rs600,000 paid to me as gratuity. Still I thank my God for whatever he has bestowed on me and here I am on this ground. Protecting it with my life,” he says.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, June 22nd, 2014