Gold-medal-winning martial artists may not make it to Asian championship without govt support

Published February 19, 2020
Facing high costs of competing in professional sports, gold medallist martial artists appeal to government for support. — Photo provided by author.
Facing high costs of competing in professional sports, gold medallist martial artists appeal to government for support. — Photo provided by author.

Gold medallists Sher Abbas, Irshad Hussain, and Ali Mujtaba — who hail from the tribal district of Parachinar — said on Wednesday that despite winning over a 100 medals in international and domestic competitions, they remain without government patronage and have to train in severely underfunded facilities.

They said that they bear all the costs related to their training and competitions, and while they are able to afford the expenses of domestic competitions, paying for international competitions is very difficult.

“Visa and ticket money is beyond our reach, so we request the government to provide these to us”, they stated.

Martial artists from Parachinar have been selected for the Asian Championship in Iran on March 2, however due to a lack of financial resources, their participation in the competition has been put under doubt.

Opinion

Editorial

Consolidating gains
Updated 15 Jul, 2025

Consolidating gains

It would not be incorrect to say that the economy is still just a shock away from relapsing into another crisis.
Second thoughts
15 Jul, 2025

Second thoughts

AND, just like that, the PTI’s ill-timed ‘Second Pakistan Movement’ seems to have been put to rest. The...
Wounded women
15 Jul, 2025

Wounded women

MORALITY is a woman’s burden to bear, and the chilling upsurge in gender-based crimes is a reminder of how...
Tax unrest
Updated 14 Jul, 2025

Tax unrest

Govt has a very poor track record of staying the course of tough decisions that affect the ruling party’s core political base.
Surging numbers
14 Jul, 2025

Surging numbers

PAKISTAN is running out of time — and space. Our population, now over 240m, continues to grow at nearly 2pc a ...
Media matters
14 Jul, 2025

Media matters

PAKISTAN’s journalists are no strangers to living dangerously. The Freedom Network’s new report, Journalism in...