Wasim Khan, a former CEO of the Pakistan Cricket Board, has called on the Pakistan Olympic Association to better support Pakistani athletes in the future after he witnessed their treatment at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
Since they are among Pakistan’s most prominent athletes, competing on the international stage, the Pakistan Olympic Association should take care of these issues and provide financial support for them. ‘How can you produce world-class athletes if the money to provide facilities isn’t there?’ he asked exasperatedly.
From 2019 to 2021, Wasim Khan, a Birmingham native and former CEO of PCB spoke exclusively with Geo News before relocating to Dubai, UAE to take the position of General Manager of Cricket for the International Cricket Council (ICC).
He is now in charge of both the men’s and women’s international cricket teams, and it is his job to ensure that all future tour plans, match official training, performance expectations, and strategy development are met.
He applauded the efforts of the Pakistani athletes, particularly the javelin throw gold medalist Arshad Nadeem and the weightlifting gold medalist Nooh Dastgir Butt, but he lamented the fact that most of the medal winners had to pay for their training and preparation for the games themselves.
“The self-funding of athletes is wrong as it doesn’t happen anywhere else in the world. Athletes who must rely on their resources will inevitably have to make sacrifices in areas such as nutrition and training. Athletes will cut corners to save money “when they believe they must do all of these things for themselves,” he said.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
