Javed Jan (centre) in better times – getting rewarded for his efforts in the ring. —File photo courtesy Shazia Hasan

KARACHI: There seems to be no end to the plight of the three international boxers discarded by the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) after the department’s disbandment of their boxing team.

Javed Jan, Shoaib Rasheed and Zakir Hussain who at one time prided themselves for having won laurels, both at the national and international level, are today forced to bow to their circumstances and accept whatever is being offered to them in the form of charity and compassion.

Donning their green blazers, the three had in January stormed a press conference being held to launch a junior football league being sponsored by their former employers. They had threatened to commit suicide if not paid their dues by the department that they said had cheated them into thinking that they were getting a golden handshake which later turned out to be their seven month’s salary.

It was also at the presser that a Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) official, while taking pity on the three sportsmen, announced that he would try to find them jobs so that they could at least be able to earn a livelihood. All three have found jobs with a catering company now which provides them with a meager income but prevents them from giving any time to the sport that gave them their identity.

“I have been given an 8.00am to 10.00pm photocopier’s job with the caterers but while my two colleagues started work in various other capacity’s there, I have yet to report to the new employers as being a boxing coach I have to tend to my other sports assignments as well,” said Javed Jan, the most senior of the three boxers, while speaking to Dawn.

The lanky boxer’s 16-year career saw him bagging nine gold and five silver medals in various national events along with one bronze medal that he won in the International Boxing Tournament in Indonesia in 1996. He was also declared the best boxing coach in last year’s 13th Sindh Games.

Recognising his contribution to boxing, former federal minister for sports Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani had in January announced a cash grant of Rs100,000 for him.

The gesture couldn’t have come at a better time for Javed’s little daughter who has been unwell for a sometime now had also started coughing up blood. “I could really have used the sum for her treatment,” he says.

But the money was never handed to him as Jakhrani resigned within a few days of the announcement and the boxers continue their struggle...