By: Musarrat Ullah Jan
From the earliest days of Pakistan, the country’s founder, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, viewed sports as far more than entertainment. He recognized sports as an important instrument for youth development, discipline, character building and the preparation of a strong and responsible generation.
Jinnah’s vision was clear: the future of Pakistan would eventually rest in the hands of its youth, and sports could play a vital role in preparing young people for leadership by making them disciplined, resilient and physically and mentally strong.
During a meeting in Karachi with the Organizing Committee of the first Pakistan Olympic Games, Jinnah emphasized the importance of dedicating oneself to the promotion of sports. He stressed that when the present generation was gone, leadership would pass to the youth, and that young people represented the country’s wealth and needed to be properly trained and developed.
His message came at a time when Pakistan had not even completed its first year as an independent state. Yet, despite the enormous challenges facing the newly created country, sports were already being regarded as part of national development.
Pakistan’s first National Games were held at the Polo Ground in Karachi from April 23 to 25, 1948. Athletes and sports officials from East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, as well as the various provincial units of West Pakistan participated in the event.
A total of 140 athletes took part. No competitors were invited from foreign countries. The inaugural National Games featured basketball, boxing, cycling, track and field, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.
The decision to organize national-level sporting competitions so soon after Pakistan’s creation was significant. It demonstrated that sports were being treated not simply as recreation but as an important component of national life and nation-building.
Nearly 78 years after that vision was articulated, Pakistan’s sporting landscape raises difficult questions. Cricket remains overwhelmingly popular, but many other sports, including hockey, squash, athletics, volleyball, boxing, wrestling, cycling, tennis and weightlifting, continue to face serious financial, administrative and infrastructure-related challenges.
Pakistan does not lack talented young athletes. The more important question is whether the state and sports institutions are providing those athletes with world-class coaching, modern facilities, scientific training and regular opportunities to compete at the highest level.
In many disciplines, outdated equipment, deteriorating playing facilities, limited training opportunities and a shortage of modern coaching have become major obstacles to athlete development.
There is nothing wrong with the popularity of cricket. The problem arises when the overwhelming focus on one sport comes at the expense of others.
Cricket dominates much of Pakistan’s sports funding, media attention, sponsorship and public discussion. This raises a fundamental question:
Has Pakistan developed an equally serious and structured system for nurturing talent in other sports? A young athlete, boxer, hockey player, weightlifter or wrestler cannot be expected to compete internationally on determination alone.
They need qualified coaches, modern equipment, proper playing facilities, sports nutrition, medical support, sports science and regular international competition. Without these elements, talent can easily be lost before it reaches the national or international level.
Whenever a Pakistani athlete achieves success at the international level, the athlete is rightly celebrated as a national hero. But another question is rarely asked: Do we have an effective talent-identification and development pathway from schools to district, provincial and national level?
Are sports facilities at district and provincial levels being properly utilized, maintained and upgraded? Do athletes have access to modern coaching, sports science, physiotherapy, nutrition and sports medicine? And perhaps the most important question of all:
These questions should not be directed only at federal and provincial governments. They must also be addressed to the sports bodies and organizations responsible for managing and developing sports at national and provincial levels.
Quaid-e-Azam considered the youth the wealth and future of Pakistan. He understood that sports could help transform young people into disciplined, capable and responsible citizens. That vision remains relevant today.
Pakistan has a huge youth population, but if sports grounds are deteriorating, equipment remains outdated, training systems are weak and talented athletes are denied consistent opportunities, then the country must honestly ask:
How faithfully are we following the sports vision articulated by our founder?
In 1948, Jinnah saw sports as a tool for nation-building. In 2026, Pakistan’s challenge is to move sports beyond ceremonies, speeches and occasional victories and make it part of a long-term national sports policy. Because sporting nations are not built merely by winning medals.
They are built by creating a system that gives thousands of young people the opportunity to enter the field, develop their talent and compete with the best in the world.
