Where on one hand, this year’s Olympics featured a Refugee Team as a symbol of compassion and empathy towards the unfortunate, Pakistan on the other was being nothing but callous and insensitive to the seven athlete contingent representing them at the Rio Olympics 2016.
Only a day after Rio Olympics were kicked off, several Pakistani news channels were seen mocking and making derogatory remarks over the strength of Pakistani contingent at this year’s Olympics.
Here’s why-
Pakistan’s Unfortunate Story:
Since 1948, Pakistan has sent at least a 20 athlete contingent to the Olympics except for this year when only seven athletes were able to book a berth for Rio.
With over 8 Olympic medals in the sport of Field Hockey, this year’s team failed to even qualify for the Olympics. And, that is a first for Pakistan. Pakistan doesn’t suffer from a dearth of inefficient sport players, but the lack of suitable nourishment for an athlete sure is a problem in Pakistan.
The Bashing:
The qualified seven athletes were labelled as non-Pakistani residents as well as wild-card entries by Pakistani news channel 92 News.
Rehan Butt, a former Pakistan hockey player calls the selected seven athletes as phoney and unworthy of being sent off to the Olympics in the name of Pakistan’s Olympic contingent. Not only did he accuse the players to have gone only to obtain free medical treatment and beneficial services, he also indicated that the athletes should’ve rather stayed at home than to have participated through a wildcard.
The Actual Truth:
While the media might have put a spotlight on the athlete’s eligibility and worthiness as a crisis in the Olympics, the actual truth was far more deep. During his rant, Rehan Butt briefly also criticised Pakistan’s inability to ensure proper employment for its former World Champion athletes.
The contingent sent this year, comprised about 24 people during the country’s introduction during the opening ceremony out of which allegedly 17 were officials.
News Reporter Ghulam Murtaza blatantly accused the 17 Pakistani officials sent alongside the athletes to have been misusing the privilege that nation grants to its athletes for showcase of brilliancy on International level. He claimed it to be one of the most unfortunate events in the history of sports in the nation.
He further persuaded the younger generation of the nation to put their aggressive motorcycling, reckless shooting and vandalising skills into sports such as cycling, shooting and swimming to score a medal in the Olympics.
Hmmm, quite an approach right there, Mr. Murtuza. I hope you’ll eventually succeed.
If you liked this, you might wanna check out: Creating History At Every Step, Indians Have A Lot To Expect Of The Rio Olympics 2016
