In Bhubaneswar, Pakistan rose from the ashes. From absolutely nowhere Mohammad Imran’s beleaguered men — showing flashes of brilliance — made it to the all-important final. Earlier this year, they fared impressively in the Asian Games too grabbing silver medal.

Therefore, one strongly feels now it is the time, both for the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) and the government, to play their due role with sincerity aimed at bringing back our lost glory in world hockey.

First, as defending champions, Pakistan met India in the Asian Games final in Incheon, South Korea in September. Though Pakistan lost the tightly-contested decider in shootout, the green-shirts did stretch their Indian opponents to the fullest. Not to forget the PHF had not been able to provide the players with proper preparation owing to financial constraints.

And now, a low-profile Pakistan outfit again surprised many by making it to the eight-nation Champions Trophy final in Bhubaneswar, India. The progress must have been a pleasant surprise even for head coach Shahnaz Sheikh, who had not expected silver-medal finish at the podium by Mohammad Imran and company.

In the process, Pakistan earned a historic-cum-thrilling triumph against traditional rivals India in the semi-final. The victory also gave new life to otherwise wilting Pakistan hockey.

It is no end of contests, however. Pakistan will face many more such challenges in future, especially from India, both in hockey and cricket as both the countries hold international standing in these two sports.

India in recent years has taken giant leap in promoting its sports, injecting heaps of money into cricket, hockey, badminton, tennis, football and kabaddi. They have started staging international leagues attracting world-class players. No doubt, all this will help India raise itself in international sports in the time to come.

Contrarily, the situation in Pakistan is exactly the opposite as the government here it seems lacks the required level of interest to involve the nation in sporting activities.

When Pakistan hockey team recorded stunning-cum-inspiring wins against Holland and India in Bhubaneswar, the entire nation got united in jubilation — a clear sign of patriotic spirit among the masses amid several crises that have struck them over the years.

Sealing top-class wins against the high-flying Netherlands (4-2) and then hosts India (4-3) in the quarter-final and semi-final respectively after staying winless in the pool phase was no ordinary comeback. Pool stage losses to Belgium (1-2), England (2-8) and Australia (0-3) were indeed demoralising, yet Imran and his brigade made a significant return, thanks partly to the soft format of the once toughest competition in the sport.

As regards the moral aspect, what happened moments after Pakistan’s victory over India in the high-octane clash could have certainly been avoided by the visiting team management’s timely intervention in controlling some of their players from celebrating the victory objectionably.

Being ambassadors of a country like Pakistan where social norms are accorded high esteem, the players — even if a section of the 7,000-strong Indian crowd had stooped too much in their behaviour — were duly expected to show restraint.

One hopes the sourness over the unwelcome incident at the Kalinga Stadium developed between the PHF and Hockey India is temporary and all would get back to normal soon.

As regards on-field show, now we have to look forward as more Pakistan-India clashes are to take place in cricket and hockey. And needless to say, the government following rationale should chalk out a proper and timely programme to promote sports for meeting this challenge.

One reckons the way Pakistan team went to India was no less than extremely embarrassing as the PHF did not have enough in its kitty to finance the high-profile visit.

A businessmen helped the PHF send the national squad to India as Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, also the patron-in-chief of the federation, had twice cancelled his meetings with the team to award them prizes for winning silver medal in the Asian Games.

The prime minister, like a true sports lover, which he is, should take the miserable condition of sports seriously.

First of all, he should know what the budget of Pakistan for sports is.

One believes, the prime minister will not believe when he will know the sports budget is around Rs800 million — equal to the expenditure of some foreign trips of the premier.

Over the last two years, both the political government of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the PML-N played a negative role just to destroy the sports by engaging itself in unnecessary fights against the International Olympic Committee over national sports policy.

Although common sense prevailed and the PML-N government saved Pakistan from the IOC ban by taking a U-turn, it is high time to repair the damages.

The PHF and other sports federations should be allocated sufficient funds with strict audits of their accounts to maintain transparency.

The role of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has also been negative in the past as it failed to guide the government the true position over the IOC issue. Many people with vested interests earned money through the national exchequer on this fight against the IOC.

Every government knows better how a sporting victory of any Pakistan team unites the entire nation but ironically, every government had shown reluctance in cashing in on this factor.

Instead of spending money on the right ways to promote sports, various provincial governments have spent money lavishly on the so-called youth festivals, which in the end served nothing for the national cause.

It is a fact that no government, be it of the US, UK or Russia, has been able to dictate their terms to international sports bodies like IOC and Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) so it would be better for Pakistan to follow the world instead of going against them.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2014