Controversy erupted amongst Pakistan’s sporting community after the Prime Minister, Shehbaz Sharif hosted a gala dinner for the recently crowned Paris 2024 Olympics gold medallist, Arshad Nadeem. The latest sensation in the sports world in Pakistan, Nadeem etched his name in the history books after he became the first-ever individual to win gold in Olympic Games for Pakistan. The Pakistan athlete threw a monstrous 92.97m to set a new Olympic record and enter the record books.
However, coming back to the gala dinner ceremony, which was hosted at the PM’s residence, saw the hockey stalwarts miss out, forcing them to express their discontent on the matter. It is to be noted that the invitations were declined for the hockey stalwarts, with majority of them expressing their discontent for last minute withdrawal, questioning “guest management” issues.
A former Olympian and head of the former Pakistan hockey players forum, Rao Saleem Nazim revealed how several athletes received invitations and subsequent email confirmations from the PM’s House, but last minute message for the Secretariat had forced to decline the invitation. “The PM House had sent invitations to several hockey stalwarts to attend the function and they all got emails confirming their invitations. But at the last moment many of us got a message from the PM secretariat that since they were finding it difficult to adjust the number of guests, the invitations had been withdrawn,” Rao said.
This abrupt reversal of decision has sparked some outrage among the athletes, with some questioning it be an “insult” while some has termed it “disrespectful”. Rao, the former Olympian also questioned the optics of honouring an Olympic gold medallist while sidelining the multiple Olympic medallists. “Is this how you show respect to players who have brought not one but several Olympic medals in hockey for the country?” he added.
It is to be noted that Pakistan’s last gold medal win at the Olympics came in 1983 Los Angeles Games when Pakistan men’s hockey team defeated India in the final. The team then went on to win a bronze medal in 1992 Summer Games, which was also the last medal the country had received at the quadrennial Games.
Moreover, the Pakistan men’s hockey team hasn’t qualified for the Summer Olympics since the last three editions, including the 2024 Paris Olympics.