Sher Ali Afridi is renowned as one of the fastest disabled bowlers in the world. A disabled professional cricketer hailing from Bara, Khyber Agency, his success has little to do with anyone else. After all, his native Khyber Agency is a wasteland of sporting activity.

The disabled hero was born with one leg. He got a prosthetic leg only to try out his luck in sports. Dreams soon turned into reality as he was picked by the Peshawar Disabled Cricket Club. From here on, his journey to international stardom began in earnest.

Although Sher Ali is an inspiration for upcoming players in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), he is not alone in experiencing sporting orphanhood. The same is the tale with Yasir Afridi and Ateeq Shinwari in football. Riaz Afridi, Shahenshah and Usman Shinwari have carved a name for themselves in cricket while Maria Toorpakai Wazir has brought sporting laurels to Pakistan. Other players from Fata including Noor Aslam, Hayat Nazeer and Zahoor Khan Shinwari have also won many national sports titles.

Despite the emergence of talent from the tribal areas including Maria Toorpakai Wazir and Usman Khan Shinwari, there is little governmental interest in sporting affairs and an absence of facilities to boot

Yet, despite the tall claims from concerned officials, the Fata Sports Directorate at the Fata Secretariat in Peshawar is unable to formulate either a sports or youth policy to exploit the tremendous sports talent of youth in Fata.

Fata has neither a sports complex nor a sports coaching academy across its seven tribal agencies. The playgrounds are rented in Peshawar even for annual sports events.

As per the available record of the Fata Sports Directorate, out of a total annual development programme (ADP) for sports activities, the tribal agencies get Rs335 million, which comes from its share of 1.58 percent of the national allocation. The Fata Olympics Association (FOA) gets no annual grant in aid for its various sports activities.

What makes matters worse is that no player from Fata gets sponsorship for participating in any international sports event. The condition is even worse for girl players in Fata.

Zarghuna Wazir, who hails from North Waziristan, is a huge sports fan and a student at a Peshawar college. She says that sports activities for girl players in Fata are limited only to schools and at the inter-college level. She wants to participate in sports festivals and at the national and international levels but she does not know how her dreams can be realised.

“Female players in Fata are not lacking in talent or steam,” she says. “Girls here may even have more potential than the men but the sports high-ups of Fata never encourage them, which in my opinion is doing sheer injustice to them.

Noted martial arts player Farhad Shinwari has been running the Khyber Martial Arts Academy (KMAA) in the Landikotal subdivision of Khyber Agency for the last 16 years, albeit from his personal resources. He has represented Pakistan as a team coach in Korea, Kazakhstan, Malaysia and Thailand. He has also performed as referee and judge. Farhad says that he has trained hundreds of young martial arts enthusiasts despite immense financial constraints.

“One of my students, Ghani Khan, contested in the Asia Karate Tournament in South Korea in 2016 and bagged the third position in the 85+ kilograms weight category. He also contested in the world karate championship in Kazakhstan earlier this year in July,” he says, and adds that his coaching academy doesn’t even have a mat.

“Fata players have great talent. Many have won medals at the national level but owing to lack of funds, proper sports facilities and sponsorship, most of them are unable to participate in international tournaments,” regrets Farhad.

“Those who have participated in events outside Pakistan have been sponsored by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB). Meanwhile, we have no indoor gymnasiums in Fata,” he complains.

Farhad also regrets that winners of national titles from Fata are not encouraged through cash rewards. They get no such protocol that is given to other good players in Pakistan. “But players need encouragement and motivation at every step,” says Farhad.

Muskan Afridi, 14, a ninth grader from Bara Khyber Agency, earned a distinction in archery in the National Championship back in January this year. She says that she still doesn’t own a set of bow and arrows and other necessary equipment needed to compete in the sport. She has to borrow it all.

“There are so many girls in Fata who want to take part in national and international events but can’t due to lack of funds, encouragement and patronage. Then there are also the social taboos, which keep them from showcasing their talent,” she shares.

Shahid Khan Shinwari, chief of Fata Olympic Association (FOA) points out that the Fata Directorate of Sports is practically dysfunctional as it has no draft of any policy for the promotion of sports and youth activities in the tribal areas.

“We registered 24 sports bodies comprising talented players selected through open trails,” he says. “FOA has spent over 40 million rupees since 2011 to date on different sports events out of a private sponsorship as the Fata Sports Directorate is not ready to give a single penny for any FOA event. In the absence of official patronage, Fata youth will remain vulnerable to extremism, militancy, drugs and other anti-state activities.”

Mohammad Nawaz, director sports at the Fata Secretariat in Peshawar says that the Fata Sports Directorate, despite not having a sports or youth policy, conducts mega festivals involving youth and players and spends money granted to it under the ADP scheme.

“My department cannot grant aid to FOA as it is a private organisation,” says Nawaz. “But sports mangers have been deputed across Fata to conduct sports activities following transparent open trails.”

The official claims that the government is going to build sports coaching academies in all tribal agencies very soon and this plan has already been approved. It will accommodate around 1,000 players in Fata.

“Professional coaches will hold training sessions with them,” he explains. “However, we cannot take the risk of opening a coaching academy for female players in Fata due to the unfavourable conditions there.” He adds that they also organise inter-school and inter-college sports galas in Fata every year to encourage the female players.

“And it is not true that there are no monetary incentives for Fata players,” he claims.

“My department has given due protocol and cash prizes whenever a Fata player shines in the National Games,” he says, adding that he would also work on a comprehensive policy that can address all issues of Fata youth including its players.

Whether these plans will see the light of day is another matter altogether. Till then, Fata’s children remain sporting orphans.

Published in Dawn, EOS, December 10th, 2017